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 assigned
- None in this 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 18101475.
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.
- 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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