The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to assess the severity of his lower back disability and any associated radiculopathy.
The deciding factor: The current evidence does not contain sufficient medical evidence to rate the Veteran's low back disability considering the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims holding in Sharp v. Shulkin (2017).
- Claimed conditions
- Crohn's disease, Degenerative disc disease and degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19183914
Veterans Law Judge
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 19183914.
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 service connection for iron deficiency anemia (IDA) as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected Crohn's disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and ileocecal valve scarring.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the claims for service connection must be remanded due to inadequate examinations and opinions. The Veteran's skin disorder, respiratory disorder, Crohn's disease, eye disorder, and migraines are all being reviewed again with new medical evaluations.
- Granted
The Veteran's Crohn's disease is rated at 60 percent, effective from the date of the rating decision on appeal.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities render him unemployable from performing all forms of substantially gainful employment that are consistent with his education and occupational experience, granting entitlement to TDIU.
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