The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and rating of his lumbosacral sprain due to insufficient evidence regarding the relationship between his upper back and shoulder pain and his service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner was unable to provide a clear opinion on whether the Veteran’s current upper back and shoulder conditions are related to service or his service-connected lumbar spine condition without further examination or information.
- Claimed conditions
- upper back pain, shoulder pain
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 6, 2018
- Citation
- 18124143
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 18124143.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for higher initial ratings and service connection were dismissed due to their death. The claims will be dismissed without prejudice.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand several claims due to the Veteran's entitlement to Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits, which were not considered in the previous decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims due to failure to comply with previous directives regarding verification of his address and scheduling of VA examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for service connection for GERD, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), dysphagia, frequent urination, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), bilateral upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), rash on face, right shoulder pain, sleep apnea, upper back pain, and vertigo due to the untimely filing of the appeal request.
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