The Board has remanded the claims for higher ratings for service-connected right foot strain and back disabilities due to incomplete development of records, lack of compliance with prior remand directives, and need for a retrospective medical opinion regarding the severity of the Veteran's service-connected back disability.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to obtain all relevant treatment records from various VA facilities as per previous Board orders, which could affect the accuracy of the rating assigned. Additionally, there is an incomplete retrospective medical opinion needed to assess the severity of the Veteran's service-connected back disability over time.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracic spine degenerative disc disease, lumbar spine degenerative disc disease with anterolisthesis L5-S1, degenerative arthritis of the spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19151246
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,196 · Granted: 17% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19151246.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine was granted. The claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and residuals of head injuries and concussions are remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for earlier effective date for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) prior to August 8, 2024, and dependency benefits from June 1, 2025, to August 8, 2025, for the school-aged child are both denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's psoriasis has been granted a 60 percent rating. The evaluations for his left foot and right foot degenerative joint disease with calcaneal spur, as well as his thoracic spine degenerative disc disease, are being remanded.
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