The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining medical records and providing an examination to determine if the Veteran's lumbar spine disorders are related to service.
The deciding factor: The examiner must provide opinions regarding whether the Veteran's lumbar spine disorders clearly and unmistakably preexisted service or were aggravated by service.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spondylosis with foraminal stenosis, lumbar degenerative disc disease without clinical evidence of radiculopathy, L5/S1 transitional vertebrae, thoracic spondylosis, thoracic degenerative disc disease without clinical evidence of radiculopathy, lumbar spinal stenosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 7, 2015
- Citation
- 1551249
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 1551249.
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 remanded the claim due to a failure to provide a VA examination and obtain an adequate medical opinion in connection with the service connection issue on appeal. The Veteran's records reflect current diagnoses of back disorders, including pain in the thoracic spine, chronic low back pain, degenerative disc disease, lumbar spondylosis, and thoracic spondylosis.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for lumbar spine disability, left hip disability, right hip disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected left total knee replacement.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for lumbar spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and radiculopathy of the left lower extremity as there is no persuasive evidence that these conditions began during or were caused by his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for lumbar spinal stenosis has been denied as there is no persuasive evidence of a current diagnosis.,Her claim for an initial compensable rating for chronic sinusitis was also denied due to lack of sufficient evidence showing the required symptoms.
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