The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to assess the severity of his lumbar spine condition and service connection for an upper back disability.
The deciding factor: The Board found that further development was necessary due to the passage of time since the last evaluation and the need to address both the lumbar spine and upper back disabilities separately.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, Upper back disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 20, 2010
- Citation
- 1002878
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 1002878.
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death while it was pending.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to obtain and maintain substantially gainful employment, thus granting a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU).
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, finding a positive nexus to the Veteran's active duty service.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal of proposed rating reductions for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and radiculopathy, left lower extremity, due to procedural defects in the Veteran's notice of disagreement. The issue regarding a compensable rating for migraine headaches was remanded.
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