The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development and consideration of his lumbar spine disability, as well as any potential bilateral leg disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner needs to provide a rationale regarding whether the Veteran's pre-existing congenital lumbar spine disease was aggravated by his active duty service. The claim is also being remanded due to the need for additional development of the issue of entitlement to service connection for a bilateral leg disability, as it may be related to his lumbar spine disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disease of the lumbar spine, Bilateral leg disability, to include pain in the feet
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 26, 2013
- Citation
- 1314019
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 1314019.
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 Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy on the basis of CUE in the February 1996 rating decision have been denied. The May 2022 rating decision is also dismissed as it failed to grant service connection.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine, finding that the Veteran's current diagnosis and continuous low back symptomology since separation from service are sufficient to meet the criteria for presumptive service connection.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including degenerative diseases of the cervical and lumbar spine, radiculopathies affecting various extremities, OSA, hepatic steatosis, and supraventricular arrhythmia.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for an initial evaluation higher than 10 percent for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine and left leg pain associated with the lumbar spine, as well as a TDIU rating. The VA will obtain retrospective opinions to assess the Veteran's conditions from October 2009 to May 2018, and may refer the claim for an extraschedular TDIU if not granted based on schedular criteria.
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