The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence regarding his claimed low back disability and related conditions. The Veteran must provide additional medical evidence or obtain releases, and a new opinion is needed on the etiology of his low back disability and its relationship to other disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was not enough evidence to determine if the Veteran's current low back disability is related to his active service due to insufficient STRs and lack of medical records from 1992 onwards. The claims for bilateral lower extremity neuropathy, left ankle disability, and depressive disorder are also remanded as they are inextricably intertwined with the low back disability claim.
- Claimed conditions
- compression fracture of L1 vertebrae, lumbar spinal stenosis (low back disability), left lower extremity neuropathy, right lower extremity neuropathy, osteoarthritis of the left ankle (left ankle disability), depressive disorder, NOS (claimed as sleep disturbances)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19178078
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,446 · Granted: 21% (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 19178078.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for left hip arthritis, right hip arthritis, type II diabetes, right lower extremity neuropathy, left lower extremity neuropathy, and sleep apnea as they have become service-connected in other rating decisions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has identified issues for remand related to service connection claims and effective date determinations. The appellant's appeal includes multiple conditions, including a headache disability, left ankle and foot disabilities, low back disability, knee degenerative joint disease (DJD), neuropathy, and an acquired psychiatric disorder.,The Board is directed to address the issues of service connection for these conditions and determine appropriate effective dates.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus type 2 and associated neuropathy in both upper and lower extremities are granted with a 60 percent disability rating, effective October 21, 2019.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral lower extremity neuropathy, finding no evidence of such conditions during or within one year after service and noting that the Veteran's current symptoms are not related to his military service.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.