The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including a new VA orthopedic examination to address range of motion and functional loss due to pain. The case will be returned to the Board after this additional development.
The deciding factor: The previous examination did not comply with the Board's remand directives regarding range of motion testing in active and passive motion, in weight-bearing, and nonweight-bearing.
- Claimed conditions
- low back pain with muscle spasm
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 27, 2018
- Citation
- 1812200
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 1812200.
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 Board granted an initial rating of 20 percent for the Veteran's low back pain with muscle spasm and service connection for bilateral hearing loss, while denying earlier effective dates and higher ratings for tinnitus, and remanding claims for right hand third digit laceration, insomnia disorder, and right knee disability.
- Denied
The Veteran's low back pain with muscle spasm is currently rated at 20 percent, and the Board has determined that a higher rating based on incapacitating episodes or under the General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine is not warranted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for her service-connected low back pain with muscle spasm is being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and development.
- 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.
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