The veteran's claim for service connection for left leg numbness as secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine disability and a higher initial rating for the lumbar spine disability are being remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: Further medical examination is needed to determine if there is a causal relationship between the veteran's current left leg symptomatology and his service-connected lumbar spine disability, as well as to assess the impact of the lumbar spine disability on employability.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease and degenerative disc disease with herniated disc at L5-S1, Left leg numbness
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 2, 2008
- Citation
- 0814664
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,643 · Granted: 15% (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 0814664.
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 Veteran's claim for high cholesterol is denied as it does not represent a disability for which service connection can be granted. The Board finds that the Veteran has been remanded on multiple issues due to inadequate opinions and need for updated examinations considering toxic exposure.
- Denied
The Veteran's left leg numbness disability is rated at 20 percent, the maximum rating available under the applicable VA Rating Schedule. The Board finds that the evidence does not support a higher rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for an increased rating for left leg numbness due to insufficient evidence from a previous examination. The Veteran is still in receipt of a 20 percent rating for his left knee impairment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any current psychiatric disorder(s), including PTSD, as well as left leg numbness. The examiner must also provide an opinion on whether these conditions are related to service.
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