The Board has determined that there are outstanding records and the VA examination is inadequate. The Veteran's claims for defective hearing, low back disability, acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as alcoholism and drug abuse), neck disability, and bilateral hip disability are remanded.
The deciding factor: There are outstanding medical records and the June 2013 VA examination of the low back is inadequate.
- Claimed conditions
- defective hearing, low back disability (claimed as degenerative disc disease with degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine), acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as alcoholism and drug abuse), neck arthritis (neck disability), bilateral hip disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19107658
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,569 · Granted: 26% (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 19107658.
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 Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to inadequate VA examination opinions and a failure to provide a VA examination for sleep apnea.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal concerning the service connection for various disabilities, including bilateral ankle, hip, shoulder, and knee disabilities, as well as an acquired psychiatric disorder and heat sensitivity.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's bilateral hip disability and TDIU claim are remanded due to the need for a VA examination and consideration of inextricably intertwined issues.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeal due to the appellant's withdrawal of his claims.
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