The Board has remanded the case to the RO for further development, including obtaining a medical opinion regarding whether the veteran's degenerative changes in the thoracic spine are related to his service or his service-connected lumbar spine condition.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner was not able to provide an opinion on the etiology of the veteran's degenerative changes in the thoracic spine, and thus further development is required.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracic spine disability, to include degenerative changes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 4, 2006
- Citation
- 0637597
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 0637597.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right shoulder disability and remanded the claims for lumbar spine, thoracic spine, right hip, left knee, right knee, left ankle, right ankle, and bilateral foot disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a thoracic spine disability and remanded the claims for bilateral hip, left sciatic radicular pain, headaches, and cervicothoracic spine disabilities.
- Dismissed
The appeal regarding CUE in the June 2014 rating decision to deny service connection for cervical and thoracic spine disabilities was dismissed due to an improper concurrent election of review.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for cervical spine, thoracic spine, TBI, and dyspnea to schedule VA examinations.
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