The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, left knee and right knee impairments, and right shoulder impairment. The issues are related to exposure during his service in Iraq and Saudi Arabia due to Gulf War Syndrome.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide sufficient rationale for their opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's conditions, particularly those related to his military service in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, Left knee impairment, Right knee impairment, Right shoulder impairment (status post rotator cuff surgery), Left shoulder impairment
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19180678
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,680 · Granted: 24% (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 19180678.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was diagnosed during service and has continued since then. The Board granted service connection for this condition based on continuity of symptomatology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to inadequate examinations and the need for a retrospective opinion regarding the severity of his service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability, diagnosed as degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, is related to service and granted service connection for this condition.
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