The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's cervical spine condition is caused or aggravated by his service-connected degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not address whether the Veteran’s cervical spine condition is caused or aggravated by his pre-existing service-connected degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine, which may be a factor in determining service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19163079
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 19163079.
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 claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities prior to June 16, 2014, as the evidence did not show that he was precluded from securing or following substantially gainful employment.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for allergic rhinitis and remanded the other claims for further development.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, except for separate awards of service connection for left knee instability and right knee instability.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities are of such nature and severity as to preclude his participation in any regular substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and occupational experience, warranting a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.
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