The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate examination and failure to consider the Veteran's contentions regarding his back injuries during service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide opinions for all diagnosed conditions, failed to address the Veteran’s contentions about in-service back injuries, and provided a negative opinion without considering contradictory evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- low spine disability, thoracic degenerative joint disease, lumbar radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19145195
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 claims for eligibility for specially adapted housing, a special home adaptation grant, and financial assistance in purchasing an automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment. The claim of CUE in the September 14, 2017, rating decision was also denied.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection for lumbar spine disc disease with fusion residuals, chronic pain syndrome, and lumbar radiculopathy.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for lumbar radiculopathy but denied it for genitourinary kidney problem blood in urine, sleep apnea (OSA), cervical radiculopathy neck, and eye injury.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for lumbosacral strain, herniated disc, and lumbar radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected bilateral foot hammer toes with callousing and hallux valgus.
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