The Board has decided to remand several issues related to the Veteran's lumbar and cervical spine disabilities, as well as his right upper and lower extremity radiculopathy. The remand includes obtaining additional medical opinions regarding the current level of disability in these conditions, as well as obtaining records from the Veteran’s nursing home.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the previous examinations did not comply with VA regulations and therefore ordered new examinations to determine the extent of functional loss due to flare-ups and repeated use of the disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar spine disability, Cervical spine strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19168491
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 19168491.
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 Board has granted service connection for cervical spine strain, right wrist sprain, right knee strain, left knee strain, and right ankle strain. The disabilities are all deemed to have begun during the Veteran's active duty.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim of service connection for a neck disorder, as it is insufficiently addressed in the previous decision. The case will be sent back for an addendum opinion.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for headaches and lumbar spine disability, as well as left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, were denied. The effective dates for these conditions are also denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) was denied because the disability is not shown as chronic in service and did not manifest to a compensable degree within the applicable presumptive period; continuity of symptomatology is not established; and the disability is not otherwise etiologically related to an in-service injury or disease.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a lumbar spine disability was denied because the disability was not shown as chronic in service and did not manifest to a compensable degree within the applicable presumptive period; continuity of symptomatology is not established; and the disability is not otherwise etiologically related to an in-service injury or disease.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a traumatic brain injury (TBI) was denied because there is no evidence of loss of consciousness or memory impairment following the motor vehicle accident during service, and post-service VA treatment records do not show a diagnosis of TBI.
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