The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient examination opinions regarding the relationship between the Veteran's back disability and his service. The case will be returned for further development.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners' opinions were inadequate as they did not adequately discuss whether the current conditions are related to the documented in-service injuries, including the 1981 x-ray findings of spondylolysis without spondylolisthesis and the back injury in October and September of 1981.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease (DDD), Arthritis, Right-sided sciatica
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19159710
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 19159710.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability and other disabilities have been granted, including a TDIU based on his inability to secure or follow substantially gainful employment due to these conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar disorder, diagnosed as DDD and a lumbosacral strain, has been granted service connection. The Board found that the disability is related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error in previous examinations, requiring additional information on right shoulder ROM measurements without medication effects.
- Granted
The Veteran's disability ratings for low back disability and right lower extremity radiculopathy have been reduced from 40% and 10%, respectively, to 20% and 0%. The reduction was based on improvements shown in recent VA examinations.
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