The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate medical opinion and failure to notify the Veteran of private treatment records.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion was found to be inadequate for decision-making purposes, and a new VA medical opinion is needed to address continuity of symptomatology since service as well as post-service complaints of back pain.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of an injury to the tailbone and low back
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 27, 2018
- Citation
- 18114598
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 18114598.
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 VA Board found no evidence linking the Veteran's current low back disability to his service, specifically noting that there is nothing in the orthopedic literature indicating that isolated lumbar strains or coccydynia will cause degenerative changes in the lumbar spine. The examiner concluded that the Veteran's current condition is less likely than not related to his service.
- 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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