The Board has decided that a new VA examination is needed to assess the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine degenerative disk disease.
The deciding factor: The need for a new VA examination was determined due to the significant time since the last examination and the complexity of assessing the disability.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine degenerative disk disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19165034
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,341 · Granted: 33% (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 19165034.
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 Veteran's claims for service connection have been remanded due to the submission of new and relevant evidence. The Board is requesting additional examinations and medical opinions to determine if his back condition and acquired psychiatric disorders are related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for special monthly compensation based on the need for regular aid and attendance of another person due to a duty to assist error in the prior VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal for service connection of hypertension is remanded. The Board needs a new medical opinion to determine if the veteran's hypertension is related to their service-connected conditions.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for lumbar spine degenerative disk disease, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy were denied. The VA determined that the Veteran's conditions did not warrant a rating in excess of 20 percent for his lumbar spine condition or any initial rating above 10 percent for either lower extremity radiculopathy.
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