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
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.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 40% rating for his low back condition and a 60% rating for left lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve, while other claims were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a low back condition, tinnitus, and bilateral hearing loss as there was no evidence of an in-service injury or event that caused these conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, finding that the Veteran's current degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is related to an in-service bicycle accident.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's cervical spine disability is granted a 30 percent rating, while the lumbar and lower extremity radiculopathy claims are denied. An earlier effective date for right lower extremity radiculopathy was granted, and TDIU based on single service-connected disability is remanded.
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