The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining VA and private treatment records, clarifying the location of his hospitalizations, and scheduling a new VA examination to assess the current severity of his service-connected lumbar spondylolisthesis and spondylitis.
The deciding factor: The decision indicates that further development is needed due to incomplete medical records and the need for clarification on the Veteran's hospitalization history. Additionally, a new examination is required as evidence of worsening symptoms has been provided by a private provider.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spondylolisthesis, lumbar spondylitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 21, 2015
- Citation
- 1521734
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 1521734.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew her appeal of all claims currently pending before the Board, including those for an earlier effective date for hypothyroidism and higher ratings for various conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an increased evaluation of lumbar spondylolisthesis due to an inadequate VA examination.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches with vasovagal pre-syncope were granted a 50 percent rating, while the claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates for other conditions were denied or remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for lumbar spondylolisthesis and bilateral ankle dermatitis, restored the ratings for left knee limitation of extension, left ankle degenerative joint disease (DJD), and right ankle DJD, and denied service connection for sinusitis, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a right 5th finger scar, increased ratings for left knee flexion and extension, and rhinitis.
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