The veteran seeks service connection for secondary disabilities of his low back, neck, and arms due to his service-connected knee disabilities. The case is remanded for further development including obtaining VA outpatient records and scheduling a VA orthopedic examination.
The deciding factor: Further development is required as the relationship between the veteran's service-connected knee disabilities and his claimed secondary conditions has not been fully addressed.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the lumbosacral spine, Degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, Cervical radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 18, 2008
- Citation
- 0802138
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 0802138.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded two issues: entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 20 percent prior to March 23, 2009 for degenerative arthritis of the lumbosacral spine and entitlement to an extraschedular disability rating for the same condition. The Veteran is asked to provide lay statements from individuals who have observed his symptoms during flare-ups and without medication. A retrospective medical opinion is needed to assess the severity of his condition prior to March 23, 2009.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Granted
The Board has granted separate ratings of 30 percent for left upper extremity cervical radiculopathy and 40 percent for right upper extremity cervical radiculopathy, effective March 16, 2017.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar and cervical spine are being remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The AOJ is directed to obtain an addendum medical opinion that addresses the extent of flareups experienced by the Veteran.
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