The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for further development due to inadequate examination reports.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner was unable to determine without resort to speculation whether pain, weakness, fatigability or incoordination significantly limited functional ability with repeated use over a period of time or during flares.
- Claimed conditions
- post-operative residuals of lumbar laminectomy and discectomy, lumbar laminectomy scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19103299
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 19103299.
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 lumbar laminectomy scar is rated at 10 percent, but the Board finds that it does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating.,The Veteran's lower back disability and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy are currently rated at 10 percent each. The VA examinations were inadequate to rate these disabilities accurately.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for post-operative residuals of lumbar laminectomy and discectomy was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating based on unfavorable ankylosis or incapacitating episodes. For TDIU, the Veteran was granted a total disability rating due to individual unemployability as of April 17, 2014.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of his service-connected intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) with lumbar laminectomy scar was denied as the evidence did not show unfavorable ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine.,The Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities was considered abandoned due to his failure to submit requested information and forms.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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