The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for lumbar spine disorder, liver disorder (including hepatitis and cirrhosis), and acquired psychiatric disorder due to lack of compliance with previous remand directives regarding obtaining service treatment records. The case is returned to the RO for further development.
The deciding factor: The Board found that further development to obtain the Veteran's service treatment records would be futile but noted alternative sources could be pursued in obtaining these federal records, including hospitalization records from U.S. Army hospitals in Germany. Additionally, a VA examination was needed to determine the etiology of the Veteran’s back disability and consider his lay contentions.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disorder, liver disorder (including hepatitis and cirrhosis), acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19159834
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 19159834.
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 claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder to correct a duty to assist error, requiring further examination and review of private treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as it is unclear whether the Veteran's claimed conditions are due to any incident of his period of active service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disorder, diabetes mellitus, and bilateral diabetic neuropathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied an earlier effective date for the Veteran's award of service-connected compensation for headaches and remanded claims for increased rating, service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, right shoulder disability, and acquired psychiatric disorder.
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