The Veteran's cervical disc disease, thoracolumbar spine degenerative disc disease (DDD) L3-4, and left knee sprain are granted with increased ratings effective February 28, 2011. The issues of service connection for epididymitis and eczema are remanded.
The deciding factor: The earlier effective dates were granted based on the Veteran's testimony regarding inadequate examinations in March 2012 that did not consider his pain reports.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical disc disease, thoracolumbar spine degenerative disc disease (DDD) L3-4, left knee sprain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19144453
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions due to an error in verifying the Veteran's active service and obtaining his complete service personnel records and treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for a new VA examination to address the Correia and Sharp standards, as the previous examination did not meet the required criteria.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for lumbar strain with disc degeneration, left knee sprain, and hiatal hernia but granted a 20 percent rating for left ankle strain.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for cervical disc disease due to an insufficient VA opinion and a need to obtain additional medical records.
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