The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the Veteran's claims for service connection for back disability and bilateral knee pain. The claims are being remanded for further development, including obtaining medical records and providing VA examinations.
The deciding factor: New and material evidence was found sufficient to reopen both claims, but additional development is needed due to inadequate previous opinions regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- transitional vertebral body, lumbosacral junction with partial sacralization at L5, lumbar strain with minimal L4-5 degenerative changes (claimed as low back pain), bilateral knee pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19176657
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 Board remands the claims for service connection due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including inadequate VA examinations and failure to obtain etiological opinions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for bilateral elbow pain, knee pain, wrist pain, hip pain, and migraines due to a need for further development, including VA examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for allergic rhinitis, pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB), lumbosacral strain with intervertebral disc syndrome, bilateral knee pain, neck pain, right shoulder pain, and osteoarthritis of the whole body as there was no evidence to support a finding that any of these conditions began during active service or were otherwise related to an in-service injury.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for bilateral knee pain and right knee patella pain was dismissed as moot, but the claims were readjudicated in an August 2025 rating decision which granted service connection with an effective date of October 31, 2019.
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