The Board has determined that additional evidentiary development is necessary for the Veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for headache disability, an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, and total disability rating due to unemployability prior to January 27, 2017. The Board will address these issues for the purpose of ensuring the issuance of a Statement of the Case (SOC) along with information about the process for perfecting an appeal as to those issues if the Veteran so desires.
The deciding factor: The Board found that additional development is needed due to conflicting medical opinions and lack of clear evidence regarding the relationship between the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and his headache disability.
- Claimed conditions
- headache disability, degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with intervertebral disc syndrome
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19120356
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,421 · Granted: 29% (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 19120356.
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 Veteran's claims regarding entitlement to service connection for a headache disability and entitlement to an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent prior to May 29, 2014, and in excess of 20 percent thereafter for right tibiofibular ligament strain are being remanded due to the need for additional development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection and rating of left lower extremity radiculopathy, headache disability, and bilateral hearing loss due to an error in notifying the Veteran of her right to a pre-decisional hearing.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for a higher rating, compensable rating, and extension of temporary total evaluation for his lumbar spine disability have been dismissed due to the Veteran withdrawing all claims in April 2022.
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