The veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is being remanded due to the need for extra-schedular consideration. The August 2005 VA opinion indicates that the veteran is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of his back disability.
The deciding factor: The claim requires an evaluation by the Director of Compensation and Pension Service for extra-schedular considerations due to the veteran's unemployability resulting from his service-connected low back disability.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbosacral spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 14, 2006
- Citation
- 0624991
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,177 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0624991.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
Service connection for degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbosacral spine is granted. The Veteran's current DDD is related to an in-service back injury caused by a hard helicopter landing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further development and to obtain a new medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's claimed back conditions are secondary to his service-connected right knee disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that further development is needed for the Veteran's claims of service connection for lower back and right hip conditions, as these are related to his right knee disability. The decision also notes that there may be outstanding VA treatment records relevant to the issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further examination and opinion regarding his left knee condition, back disability, and individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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