The Board has remanded the case for another VA spine examination to be conducted by a neurosurgeon or an orthopedic spine surgeon. The examiner is requested to assess whether the Veteran's back disability, including degenerative changes of the lumbar spine with spina bifida occulta, is related to service.
The deciding factor: The Board requires medical expertise to determine if the Veteran's back disability is a congenital or developmental abnormality and whether it is related to service. The examiner must acknowledge and discuss the Veteran's lay statements regarding his in-service injury and chronicity of symptomatology.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative changes of the lumbar spine, Spina bifida occulta
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 15, 2013
- Citation
- 1305692
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 1305692.
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 Board has remanded the claim of service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, finding that the VA examination and opinion were inadequate as they did not consider the Veteran's complete medical history. The case is now to be reviewed with an addendum VA opinion.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed because the Board Appeal request was not timely filed with respect to the June 14, 2023 rating decision that decreased the rating for degenerative changes of the lumbar spine to 20 percent effective September 1, 2023.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability and an acquired psychiatric disability, but remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected degenerative changes of the lumbar spine and increased the disability rating for the lumbar spine to 20 percent effective August 18, 2023.
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