The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for lumbar spine arthritis and chronic diarrhea are remanded due to the need for additional examinations to assess the current severity of his conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners failed to conduct Correia compliant testing, which is required by recent court decisions. The Board finds that a new examination is necessary to determine the current severity of the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis and chronic diarrhea.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine arthritis, chronic diarrhea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 7, 2018
- Citation
- 18124463
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 18124463.
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.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased disability ratings for lumbar spine arthritis and right lower extremity sciatica have been dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal of his appeal.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for a compensable rating for chronic diarrhea, service connection for diverticulitis, and service connection for a respiratory system disability to include restrictive lung disease and sleep apnea syndrome have been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for tension headaches and chronic diarrhea, finding that the Veteran's conditions are at least as likely as not related to his active military service.
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