The Board has decided to remand the case for further development and an addendum medical opinion regarding the Veteran's lower back disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide a clear opinion on whether the Veteran's lower back condition is related to service, and there are conflicting diagnoses in the record.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back strain, degenerative arthritis of the spine, lumbago
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19118277
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 19118277.
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.
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- Granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as service-connected.,The Veteran's right ear hearing loss is denied as not meeting VA criteria for a disability.,The Veteran's left ACL tear, right ankle sprain, lower back strain, and right shoulder strain are all denied as not meeting VA criteria for a disability.
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