The Board has dismissed the claim for residuals, right leg surgery and denied the claim for non-service connected pension benefits. The remaining issues of service connection for thoracolumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, sleep apnea syndrome, bilateral foot disability, and TDIU are remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not have wartime service, which is a requirement for nonservice-connected pension benefits. Additionally, the Board found that additional evidence was needed to determine if the Veteran's current disabilities were related to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracolumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, bilateral foot disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19123896
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,858 · Granted: 24% (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 19123896.
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 Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral foot disability is related to his active military service and grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for cervical and thoracolumbar spine disabilities due to a predecisional duty to assist error. The Veteran's past medical history needs to be considered in the new examination.
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