The Board has reopened the claim for service connection of a back disability, but has remanded it due to insufficient evidence regarding its etiology and whether it is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected bilateral knee disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide sufficient rationale in their March 2016 opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's current back disability and his active service or whether it was caused by his service-connected bilateral knee disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Back Disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 19, 2018
- Citation
- 18143667
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 18143667.
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 denied an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for GERD and remanded the claims for service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome, a back disability, and sinusitis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development and to ensure compliance with VA's duty to assist.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for hypertension is dismissed as the claim has been fully granted. The claims for bilateral hearing loss, back disability, fatigue, and acquired psychiatric disability are remanded for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including a back disability, right and left lower extremity peripheral nerve disabilities, a right foot disability, sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus, to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
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