The Veteran's claims for a higher rating for his back disability and TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and clarification of his service-connected conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examination is needed to assess the current severity of the Veteran's thoracolumbar spine disability, including range of motion measurements under Correia v. McDonald (2016).
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative changes in the thoracolumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19105052
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,037 · Granted: 21% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19105052.
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 appeal includes claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar spine disability and left lower extremity radiculopathy, as well as a TDIU claim. The case is being remanded to obtain updated medical evidence and to refer the issues of extraschedular evaluations and TDIU consideration.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected degenerative changes in the thoracolumbar spine are found to warrant a rating in excess of 10 percent, and he is granted TDIU.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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