The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the relationship between his spinal and foot disabilities and his service-connected conditions. The VA must obtain additional opinions addressing causation and aggravation.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to comply with previous Board orders by not obtaining sufficient opinions on the theories of entitlement (causation and aggravation).
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, Bilateral pes planus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 29, 2018
- Citation
- 18154135
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 18154135.
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 determined that the Veteran's current bilateral pes planus is not service-connected due to a duty-to-assist error, and remands the case for further examination and opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for his lumbar spine and right hip disabilities due to a duty to assist error. The effective date for DEA benefits is granted as May 1, 2014.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for SMC(o) was denied as he could not receive multiple awards of SMC(l). The right shoulder bicipital tendonitis rating was denied, and the TDIU claim was granted.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date and higher initial rating for his back disability is denied. The effective date remains March 29, 2021, as the earliest date of claim. An initial rating in excess of 20 percent for the back disability from March 29, 2021, is also denied.
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