The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate examination and needs further development before a final decision can be made on the service connection claim for an upper back disability.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to provide an adequate examination focusing specifically on the thoracic spine, which is necessary to determine if any diagnosed upper back disability is related to active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- upper back disability, lipoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2013
- Citation
- 1339038
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 1339038.
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 claims of service connection for various conditions, including sleep apnea, lower back disability, upper back disability, bilateral foot disability, tinnitus, and bilateral knee disability. The Board found that there was no evidence to support a direct link between these conditions and active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's upper and low back disability, left hip disability, right knee disability, bilateral ankle disability, bilateral foot disability, and overall body pain are related to his active service. The claims are being remanded for further examination and opinion.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for left middle finger, right hand (including right middle finger), left arm, and upper back disabilities due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's active military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for neck scar as secondary to lipoma because there is no evidence that the lipoma or its removal was related to service.
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