The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including issuance of a Statement of the Case and consideration of additional evidence. The lumbar spine claim will be reviewed by a VA examiner to determine if it was caused or aggravated by service-connected knee disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that an addendum opinion from a VA examiner is necessary to address whether the Veteran's current lumbar spine disorder was caused or aggravated by his service-connected knee disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the left knee, limitation of motion, with meniscal tear and Baker's cyst, Instability of the left knee, Lumbar spine disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 6, 2016
- Citation
- 1634880
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 1634880.
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 Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for eligibility for specially adapted housing and special home adaptation grant was denied as he does not meet the criteria for a qualifying total service-connected disability rating or loss of use of lower extremities.
- Granted
The Veteran's cervical spine disorder is rated at 20% since July 1, 2022. The lumbar spine disorder was initially granted a 20% rating from September 1, 2022 to October 19, 2022 and then denied any higher ratings thereafter.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection of lumbar spine, right knee, left knee, and hypertension disorders. The Board dismissed the appeals as a result.
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