The Board has decided to remand the claim for a VA examination due to recent spinal surgeries and new symptoms reported by the Veteran.
The deciding factor: Recent spinal surgeries and new symptoms require further evaluation to determine the current severity of the lumbar spine disability.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative changes lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 14, 2018
- Citation
- 18111007
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 18111007.
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 Veteran's disability rating for compression fractures thoracic spine and degenerative changes lumbar spine is denied as it does not meet the criteria for a higher rating from May 21, 2019 forward.
- Remanded (sent back)
The veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative changes in the lumbar spine, following a hemilaminectomy and medial facetectomy of L5-S1, is being remanded due to the need for additional development including obtaining relevant Social Security Administration (SSA) records and medical records from various healthcare providers.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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