The Board has decided that the Veteran's claim for service connection for a lumbar disability, which is secondary to his service-connected left knee disability, must be remanded due to inadequate examination and lack of rationale in the previous opinion.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide sufficient rationale for their opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's lumbar spine disorders.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19181672
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 denied service connection for bipolar disorder and denied increased ratings for the lumbar disability, left and right sciatica, and chronic sinusitis. However, it granted an increased rating of 40 percent from March 7, 2022, for left and right sciatic radiculopathy and restored a 30 percent rating for chronic sinusitis.
- Dismissed
The appeal regarding service connection for left and right lower extremity sciatica was dismissed as untimely, while other conditions were remanded for further development.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a lumbar disability and denied increased ratings for various disabilities, except for granting a 60 percent rating for coronary artery disease and a 50 percent rating for PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matters for appropriate VA examinations to determine the nature and severity of the Veteran's lumbar spine and related radiculopathy disabilities.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.