The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining VA treatment records and conducting examinations to assess the severity of his service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The decision requires further evidence and examination due to the age of some previous examination reports and the need to address current employment status and disability impact on daily life.
- Claimed conditions
- Depressive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (DDNOS), Intervertebral Disc Protrusion of the Lumbar Spine status-post L4 to L5 and L5 to S1 transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TILF) and posterior spinal fusion (PSF)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 13, 2015
- Citation
- 1520440
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 1520440.
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 PTSD is not rated higher than 70 percent, and from February 14, 2018, the Veteran is granted a TDIU.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has recharacterized the Veteran's claim as service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include PTSD and depressive disorder NOS. The Veteran should be afforded a new examination to determine the nature and etiology of his current psychiatric disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, is remanded due to the need to verify a claimed in-service stressor and obtain another VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining an addendum opinion from a VA examiner to address whether any psychiatric disorders are related to service and whether they are caused or aggravated by service-connected conditions.
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