The Veteran's appeal for a higher disability rating for his dorsal spine degenerative arthritis is being remanded due to the need for another VA examination to assess the current severity of his condition.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has not provided sufficient evidence to support an increased disability rating, and further evaluation is needed to determine the current level of severity of his dorsal spine degenerative arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the dorsal spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19105848
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,890 · Granted: 32% (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 19105848.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's increased rating claims for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar, dorsal, and cervical spines. The claim to reopen service connection for a left shoulder disability was also denied due to lack of new and material evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased evaluations for his service-connected dorsal spine disability, finding that the evidence did not support ratings in excess of 20 percent prior to August 18, 2006, and 40 percent thereafter.
- Remanded (sent back)
The veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected cervical and dorsal spine disabilities are being remanded for additional development.
- Denied
The veteran's service-connected disabilities do not prevent him from securing or following substantially gainful employment, considering the impairment from the disorders and his educational and occupational background.
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