The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection due to incomplete examinations, lack of retrospective opinions, and other procedural issues. The Veteran will need to undergo additional VA examinations and provide updated treatment records.
The deciding factor: Incomplete examination results and lack of retrospective opinions regarding past functional limitations require further evaluation by a VA examiner.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, sciatic nerve, Radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, sciatic nerve, Voiding dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19123578
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,038 · Granted: 30% (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 19123578.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for residuals of prostate cancer due to VA's failure to notify him of his April 17, 2008, elevated PSA test results and its failure to timely diagnose and properly treat his disease.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine was dismissed as a matter of law due to a full grant of benefits. The appeals for left knee and left ankle disabilities are remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar disability and associated radiculopathy of the sciatic and femoral nerves are granted with effective dates from June 30, 2010. A 40% rating is assigned for the lumbar disability.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's back disability, including degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, is related to his active service and grants service connection for this condition.
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