The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for a low back disability and neuropathy of the upper back region due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the onset of these conditions during service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion was inadequate as it did not consider all relevant factors, including the Veteran’s statements about self-medication, repetitive work duties, and post-service treatment records.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the lumbar spine, Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine, Cervical spine strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19182561
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and an earlier effective date for total disability based on individual unemployability.
- Denied
The Board denied an effective date prior to January 10, 2024, for the grant of service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for cervical and thoracolumbar spine strains, TMJ disorder, dermatitis of the face, right knee chondromalacia grade II with patellar tendonitis, medial meniscal derangement, and Baker's cyst, and bilateral hearing loss. However, service connection was granted for radicular pain paresthesia of the right upper extremity.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for increased rating for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, both prior to and from December 2, 2019.
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