The Board remands the case for a VA examination to determine if the Veteran's lumbar and cervical conditions are related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not contain sufficient competent medical evidence to decide the claim but establishes that the veteran suffered an event, injury, or disease in service and indicates that the claimed disability may be associated with the established event, injury, or disease in service.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spondylosis, degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, with interscapular muscle pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 4, 2009
- Citation
- 0907946
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 Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) as his service-connected disabilities, while severe, do not render him unable to obtain or maintain a gainful occupation.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension, hypothyroidism, prostate cancer, sleep apnea secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus, tinea pedis, and lumbar spondylosis.
- Granted
The Board granted disability ratings of 40 percent for right shoulder impingement syndrome, 30 percent for left shoulder impingement syndrome, rotator cuff tear, and acromioclavicular joint osteoarthritis, 30 percent for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, 40 percent for degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine, and 30 percent for right knee patellar chondromalacia with degenerative arthritis, but not higher.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of May 1, 2018, for the award of service connection for radiculopathy, right lower extremity, was granted. The appeal for an earlier effective date for TDIU was dismissed as moot.
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