The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for low back and bilateral knee conditions due to inadequate medical opinions based on a lack of review of the Veteran's full medical history, including his lay statements about symptom onset.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not consider the Veteran’s lay statements regarding the continuity of symptoms since discharge from service.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back condition, Bilateral knee condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19178416
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,863 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19178416.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a low back condition as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right hip condition, finding that the Veteran's back pain is aggravated by his right hip surgery.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back condition, finding that it was incurred during active duty.
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