The Veteran's service-connected intervertebral disc disorder and associated radiculopathy are being remanded for further evaluation due to the need for a new VA examination.
The deciding factor: The current examination findings may not be representative of the current severity of the disability, necessitating a new assessment.
- Claimed conditions
- intervertebral disc disorder of the lumbar spine, r radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, associated with intervertebral disc disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19183116
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,088 · Granted: 33% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19183116.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for intervertebral disc disorder of the lumbar spine, finding that there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding whether his current condition was incurred in or related to an in-service event.
- Denied
The Veteran's low back disability was not found to warrant a higher rating prior to December 16, 2019. From that date, the disability was also not found to warrant a higher rating.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for cervicalgia and intervertebral disc disorder of the lumbar spine.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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