The Board has remanded the case for further development, including an examination to determine if any current thoracic and/or lumbosacral spine disorders are related to service. The presumption of soundness will also be addressed.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the presumption of soundness had not been appropriately addressed and required a determination on whether any pre-existing conditions were aggravated by service or if they were of service onset.
- Claimed conditions
- Thoracic spine disorder, Lumbosacral spine disorder, Sciatica
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 25, 2010
- Citation
- 1039777
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 1039777.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted initial ratings of 40 percent for sciatica of the right and left lower extremities, effective from the date of the January 2021 rating decision.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability, a gastrointestinal disorder, obstructive sleep apnea, and a thoracic spine disorder. The effective date for increased evaluations and new grants of service connection were also denied.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an evaluation in excess of 10 percent for herpes genitalia and remanded the claims for service connection for a right shoulder disorder, cervical spine disorder, and thoracic spine disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for GERD, lumbar spine disability, sciatica, and ED, as well as a TDIU prior to April 5, 2021, due to inadequate medical opinions.
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