The Board remanded the veteran's appeals for service connection of a cervical spine disability and for an increased rating above 40 percent for his service-connected low back condition. On remand, VA must obtain additional medical records, provide proper notice to the veteran, and schedule examinations to determine the etiology of the cervical spine condition and reassess the current level of the low back disability.
The deciding factor: The Board found that prior examinations did not address etiology of the cervical spine disability, VA failed to provide proper notice regarding increased rating criteria as required by Vazquez-Flores, and current medical evidence demonstrates a cervical spine disability requiring examination to determine whether it is service-connected directly, secondary to the service-connected low back condition, or related to in-service cervical spine injury noted in 1976 records.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disability, status post diskectomy with degenerative disc disease at L3-L4, L4-L5, and L5-S1
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- April 14, 2008
- Citation
- 0812271
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,350 · Granted: 26% (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 0812271.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for cervical and thoracolumbar spine disabilities due to a predecisional duty to assist error. The Veteran's past medical history needs to be considered in the new examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for sleep apnea and cervical spine disability due to potential service connection issues related to obesity, service-connected disabilities, and other factors.
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