The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including a VA examination.
The deciding factor: Additional evidence is needed to determine the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected cervical and lumbosacral strains and whether he is unemployable due to his disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- recurrent lumbosacral strain, recurrent cervical strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 15, 2014
- Citation
- 1421863
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 1421863.
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 service connection for spinal scoliosis and granted service connection for recurrent lumbosacral strain residuals.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a lower back condition to obtain an adequate medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's pre-existing lower back disorder was clearly and unmistakably not aggravated by service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claim for recurrent lumbosacral strain is granted. The claims for right hip disability, left hip disability, esophageal disability (GERD), substance abuse disability, and Type II diabetes mellitus are remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar spine degenerative disc disease and recurrent cervical strain have been granted service connection, with a rating of 40% for the lumbar disability and denied for a higher rating for the cervical disability. The Veteran has also been awarded Total Disability Rating due to Individual Unemployability (TDIU) effective November 4, 2014.
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