The Board has remanded the case for an addendum opinion from the June 2016 examiner to address whether or not the Veteran's non arthritic back disabilities, such as lumbosacral strain, spinal stenosis or sprain, are directly related to service and if so whether the Veteran's hip disabilities are secondarily related to the non arthritis back disabilities.
The deciding factor: The examiner is requested to review the claims file and offer an opinion as to whether any of the Veteran's non arthritic back disabilities (including lumbosacral strain, invertebral disc syndrome, spinal stenosis and/ or spasm of lumbosacral spine) are related to service. If found that they are related, the examiner should also opine whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's DJD of the right and left hips is caused by his non arthritic disability of the lumbosacral spine or if it is aggravated (i.e. increased in severity) beyond the natural progress by his non arthritic disability of the lumbosacral spine.
- Claimed conditions
- Back disability, Right hip disability, Left hip disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 22, 2017
- Citation
- 1734487
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 1734487.
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 the Veteran's claim for service connection of a back disability, finding that there was no evidence to support a nexus between his current condition and active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for a back disability due to incomplete service records and failure to consider all available evidence, including in-service treatment records from F.E. Warren Air Force Base.
- Dismissed
Your appeal of the March 28, 2025 rating decision that deferred adjudication of your right hip disability claim has been dismissed.
- Granted
The Veteran's rating for residuals status post lumbar fusion was reduced from 40 percent to 20 percent effective October 25, 2023. The reduction was granted as there was no evidence of actual improvement in the Veteran's condition prior to this date.
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