The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient development of records and need for a VA medical opinion regarding continuity of symptoms since service.
The deciding factor: The Court found that the Board failed to adequately explain how normal x-ray findings from 1994 could be evidence of no back condition existing at that time, leading to an assumption error in the decision.
- Claimed conditions
- Back disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19180306
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 Board granted an initial rating of 20 percent for right lower extremity (RLE) radiculopathy but remanded the back disability claim for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities, including an acquired psychiatric disability, headaches, a back disability, heart disability, and residuals of a stroke, as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to the Veteran's active service or caused by his service-connected left ear disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the claims for an initial compensable rating for left ear sensorineural hearing loss, service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability, and a left eye disorder. However, it granted service connection for a back disability and radiculopathy of both lower extremities as secondary to the back disability.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for the right ankle disability, but remanded claims for service connection for sinusitis and back disability.
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