The Board has remanded the cases due to insufficient compliance with previous remand directives regarding the issue of an increased rating for paraspinal lumbar spasms. The examiner was not able to distinguish all symptomatology due to the Veteran's service-connected paraspinal lumbar spasms from that due to other nonservice-connected low back disability.
The deciding factor: The Board found insufficient compliance with previous remand directives regarding the issue of an increased rating for paraspinal lumbar spasms, necessitating another examination to determine the nature and extent of the Veteran's service-connected condition.
- Claimed conditions
- paraspinal lumbar spasms
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19120031
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,480 · 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 19120031.
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 Veteran's claim for increased ratings and TDIU was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher evaluation for his service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for increased rating, temporary total rating, and TDIU due to incomplete compliance with previous remand instructions.
- Denied
The Veteran's paraspinal lumbar spasms are currently rated at 20 percent, and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted based on the evidence of record.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a temporary total rating for convalescence due to low back disability was denied as the need for convalescence was unrelated to his service-connected paraspinal lumbar spasms. The Veteran's current symptoms are related to nonservice-connected degenerative disc disease.
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