The Veteran's claim for service connection of a low back condition has been reopened and remanded. The issues of rating the right hip stress fracture, limitation of flexion of the right hip stress fracture, and an effective date earlier than November 30, 2017 are also remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claim for service connection is based on a secondary theory due to his service-connected right hip disability. The VA examiner did not consider this theory in their opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back condition, Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, IVDS (Intervertebral Disc Syndrome)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19176126
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,861 · Granted: 27% (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 19176126.
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 a low back condition and right shoulder rotator cuff strain, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are at least as likely as not related to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for a low back condition and an acquired psychiatric disability are dismissed as procedural defects due to the overlapping nature of the appeals.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was diagnosed during service and has continued since then. The Board granted service connection for this condition based on continuity of symptomatology.
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