The veteran's claim for an increased evaluation for his service-connected low back disability is being remanded to the RO for further development, including a new VA examination.
The deciding factor: Further development and a more current examination are needed to assess the current severity of the veteran's service-connected mechanical low back pain with degenerative disc disease.
- Claimed conditions
- mechanical low back pain with degenerative disc disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 27, 2009
- Citation
- 0902850
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 609 · Granted: 22% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0902850.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
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 the issue of special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for aid and attendance or being housebound due to service-connected disabilities. The Veteran needs assistance with daily activities, but a VA examination is required to determine if this need is solely due to her service-connected conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and development of medical records.
- Denied
The Veteran's low back disability was found to not warrant a rating higher than 10 percent prior to July 26, 2007 and 20 percent from that date forward.
- Granted
The veteran's service-connected mechanical low back pain with degenerative disc disease is currently rated at 10 percent, and the Board has determined that a higher 20 percent rating is warranted based on moderate impairment.
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