The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate examination and missing information, including range of motion testing in degrees.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide adequate information regarding the Veteran's flares and failed to express range of motion in terms of degrees as required by regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine degenerative joint disease (DJD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19176013
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 disabilities render him unable to maintain substantially gainful employment, and a TDIU rating is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for higher disability ratings for cervical spine DDD and lumbar DJD, as well as the claim for TDIU, is being remanded due to issues with the timeliness of her Notice of Disagreement (NOD) regarding the May 2010 rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for a kidney disorder and rating in excess of 10 percent for lumbar spine DJD due to lack of proper examination and opinion.
- Denied
The Board found that a preponderance of the competent medical and other evidence supports a conclusion that the Veteran's lumbar spine DJD condition is unrelated to his active duty service.
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