The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining a new VA examination to assess the Veteran's back disability and its impact on his upper extremities. The examiner is requested to provide opinions regarding the severity of the Veteran's back disability, whether he has a separately ratable neurological or muscle group injury as a manifestation of his service-connected T4 burst fracture with neuropathic pain, and the extent of any functional impairment during flare-ups.
The deciding factor: The remand is required due to inadequate examination in prior decisions that did not address all aspects of the Veteran's claim for increased ratings for his back disability, including its impact on his upper extremities and whether he has a separately ratable neurological or muscle group injury as a manifestation of his service-connected T4 burst fracture with neuropathic pain.
- Claimed conditions
- T4 burst fracture with neuropathic pain, costochondritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 22, 2018
- Citation
- 18104479
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 18104479.
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.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for bilateral hearing loss was denied, but his claims for tinnitus and costochondritis were granted.,The Board has remanded the claims for left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), pericarditis, and myxomatous mitral valve.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for costochondritis, finding that the evidence is in equipoise as to whether the condition is related to in-service chest pain.
- Granted
The Veteran's headaches are granted service connection, with the Board finding that his headaches started during active duty and have persisted.,Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is denied as there is no current diagnosis of hearing loss for VA purposes.
- Granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as incurred in service.,The Veteran's left knee meniscal tear with degenerative arthritis is granted as incurred in service and has continued since then.
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