The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including lumbar and thoracic degenerative disease, lower radicular group neuritis (right upper extremity), cervical degenerative disc disease with stenosis, and sciatic neuralgia (right lower extremity), are deemed to be severe enough to prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation. However, the VA examinations were found inadequate due to lack of assessment on the effects of his medications.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected disabilities cause significant functional impairment and may affect his ability to secure and maintain employment.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar degenerative disease, thoracic degenerative disease, lower radicular group neuritis (right upper extremity), cervical degenerative disc disease with stenosis, sciatic neuralgia (right lower extremity)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19113508
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,902 · Granted: 11% (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 19113508.
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 determined that there are errors in the decision-making process related to service connection for lower back, right knee, and left knee conditions. The claims are being remanded to allow for further review and consideration of these issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining treatment records and adequate nexus opinions. The Veteran's claims for service connection for lumbar spine and cervical spine disabilities are now before the Board.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's lower extremity radiculopathy, lumbar degenerative disease, and left hip strain conditions, but granted a 10 percent rating for left hip strain impairment of thigh from April 13, 2023.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection of a heart condition and TDIU was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding that his current heart conditions were related to his active-duty service or any other service-connected disability.
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