The Board has remanded the case for further development, including scheduling VA examinations and obtaining private treatment records.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service connection claims are being remanded due to insufficient evidence regarding the etiology of his back pain and peripheral neuropathy in his feet and hands. Further examination is needed to determine if these conditions are related to his military service, specifically exposure to Agent Orange.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine, Peripheral neuropathy in the bilateral lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2014
- Citation
- 1412738
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 1412738.
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 determined that there is a need for additional medical examination and opinion to address the Veteran's claim of service connection for a back disability, including DDD of the lumbar spine. The current VA opinions are deemed inadequate due to their failure to consider the Veteran's lay reports of in-service injury and continuous symptomatology since service.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and bilateral hearing loss, do not render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine was denied as his symptoms did not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher evaluation.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for OSA as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected DDD of the lumbar spine, finding that his service-connected condition aggravated his nonservice-connected OSA.
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