The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient attempts to obtain his private medical records, particularly those from a chiropractor.
The deciding factor: The Board failed to assist the Veteran in obtaining his private medical records as required by regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- low back strain with degenerative disc disease, left lower extremity radiculopathy associated with low back strain with degenerative disc disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19132190
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for migraines, including migraine variants, secondary to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and granted a TDIU rating on an accrued basis.
- Denied
The appeal seeking revision or reversal of the January 27, 2016 rating decision that reduced from 40 to 10 percent the rating for service-connected low back disability was denied.
- Granted
The Veteran is permanently and totally disabled due to service-connected disabilities resulting in loss of use of both lower extremities, which qualifies him for specially adapted housing.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the reduction of the disability rating from 40 to 20 percent for low back strain with degenerative disc disease was proper. The veteran is currently entitled to a 40 percent disability rating for this condition.
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