The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence regarding the onset and etiology of the Veteran's lumbar, cervical spine, and radiculopathy conditions during his military service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that a new VA medical opinion is needed to determine if the Veteran’s current lumbar DDD may have been caused by or onset during his entire period of active duty service from June 1969 to June 1971, and whether cervical spine DDD and bilateral leg radiculopathy are related to his lumbar DDD.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease, lumbar spine, Degenerative disc disease, cervical spine, Lumbar radiculopathy, right lower extremity, Lumbar radiculopathy, left lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 19, 2018
- Citation
- 18119755
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 18119755.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim of service connection for degenerative disc disease, lumbar spine (claimed as back injury) due to inadequate VA examination and failure to comply with prior remand directives.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for degenerative disc disease, lumbar spine was dismissed due to concurrent election of review options.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for degenerative disc disease, lumbar spine, with muscle spasms; right elbow pain; and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy/ sciatica as secondary to the back disability have all been granted.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative disc disease with intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) and spinal fusion, as well as for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine. The decision is based on evidence showing that these conditions are at least as likely as not related to incidents during active duty.
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