The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to potential aggravation of her back disability during periods of active duty service. The Board requests additional information from the VA to determine if there are any periods of ACDUTRA or INACDUTRA that qualify as active duty service.
The deciding factor: The examiner did not provide an opinion on whether the Veteran's IVDS was incurred in or aggravated by military service, and the record does not establish all periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) and inactive duty for training (INACDUTRA).
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the left thumb, arthritis of the right thumb, intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2018
- Citation
- 18159008
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 18159008.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's initial claim for an increased rating for his service-connected low back disability (previously rated as degenerative disc disease) was remanded due to a duty-to-assist error in the November 2024 Back Conditions Disability Benefits Questionnaire. The case is now being remanded to obtain retrospective findings from an appropriate clinician to determine the severity of the Veteran's service-connected back disability.
- Granted
The Board granted a 40 percent disability rating for the Veteran's low back disorder, effective March 31, 2019.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) of the lumbar spine was denied. The Board found that there were no unadjudicated applications and that a CUE in the August 2013 rating decision did not warrant an earlier effective date.
- Denied
The Veteran's request to readjudicate their previously denied claim of service connection for arthritis of the right thumb based on new and relevant evidence was denied. A disability rating of 10 percent, but no more, effective May 5, 2020, for residuals of a fracture of the fifth metacarpal of the right hand with arthritis is granted.
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