The Veteran's claim for service connection for her lumbar spine, cervical spine, right upper extremity radiculopathy (major), and left upper extremity radiculopathy is remanded due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the nature of her back conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners did not adequately consider the Veteran's lay statements or provide a clear opinion on whether her current disabilities are related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- {"condition_name":"lumbar spine degenerative joint and disc disease (DJD & DDD), stenosis with bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy"}, {"condition_name":"cervical spine degenerative joint and disc disease (DJD & DDD)"}, {"condition_name":"right upper extremity radiculopathy (major)"}, {"condition_name":"left upper extremity radiculopathy (minor)"}
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19131986
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
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