The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim of service connection for lumbar spine strain with arthritis due to new and material evidence, but has remanded it for a VA medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The reopening was based on new private treatment records showing complaints of back pain since October 1983, which relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim (the lack of a nexus between service and current condition).
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine strain with arthritis
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19108672
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 439 · Granted: 19% (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 19108672.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeal as it was improperly docketed under the legacy appeals system due to the Veteran's valid opt-in to the AMA system via a RAMP election form. The case is now addressed in a separate decision under the AMA.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a lumbar spine disability was received on October 2, 2013. The Board denied an earlier effective date as the earliest possible date of entitlement is October 2, 2013.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development due to inconsistencies in the Veteran's reports of flare-ups and functional impact during those flare-ups. The issues include left knee strain, lumbar spine strain with arthritis, and radiculopathy of the left lower extremity.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to service-connected mood disorder and sinusitis with headaches. The Veteran's lumbar spine strain with arthritis was restored from a 20 percent rating to a 10 percent rating effective November 28, 2016.
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