The Board is requesting a new medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's service-connected bilateral knee patellofemoral pain syndrome has aggravated his lumbar spine condition.
The deciding factor: The current medical opinion did not address whether the service-connected disability (bilateral knee patellofemoral pain syndrome) has aggravated the Veteran’s lumbar spine condition, which is required when causation and aggravation are at issue.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD), Lumbar Spine
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19132195
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 Veteran's eligibility for benefits under the PCAFC due to a finding that he does not require personal care services for a minimum of six continuous months.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative disc disease and associated radiculopathy, as the record does not include all relevant treatment records prior to back surgery.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a back disorder, including degenerative disc disease, degenerative arthritis, spondylolisthesis, and compression fracture at L2, as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD alone is found to prevent him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment, and he is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) and special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the statutory housebound criteria.
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