The Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 40 percent for his lumbosacral disability is being remanded due to the need for a new examination as the last VA examination was more than three and a half years ago.
The deciding factor: The last VA examination was conducted over three and a half years ago, which may not adequately represent the current severity of the Veteran's lumbosacral disability. The Board finds that a new examination is needed to fully evaluate the claim for an increased rating.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 15, 2017
- Citation
- 1758281
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 1758281.
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 of service connection for lumbosacral and right knee disabilities due to a failure to obtain adequate secondary service connection opinions regarding these claims. The new opinions must address both causation and aggravation, considering the Veteran's theory that his current conditions are related to his service-connected right ankle disability.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for sleep apnea and remanded the issues of rating lumbosacral disability, separate ratings for radiculopathy, and other related matters.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a left ankle disability and lumbosacral disability as there are pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors requiring further development.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, a bilateral shoulder disability, and a lumbosacral disability due to insufficient evidence.
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