The Board has remanded the claims for lumbar degenerative arthritis and an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and a mood disorder. The Veteran's back pain is believed to have occurred due to a personal assault during service, which may have aggravated his existing condition. The VA needs to obtain relevant medical records from San Diego NMC for both claims.
The deciding factor: The personal assault in-service may have aggravated the Veteran’s pre-existing psychiatric conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar degenerative arthritis, an acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD, depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and a mood disorder)
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 7, 2018
- Citation
- 18101475
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 18101475.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal due to the Veteran's withdrawal of the appeal prior to a decision being made.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, but has remanded the cases of left knee and lumbar spine disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate VA examination, and the Veteran's low back condition may be related to service or his service-connected chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate examination reports and a need for further evaluation of the Veteran's lumbar degenerative arthritis.
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