The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's urinary incontinence is related to his service-connected back disability. The AOJ will obtain additional medical records and schedule a VA examination for an opinion on this issue.
The deciding factor: The July 2016 VA examiner did not address all of the inquiries, including the Veteran’s prior history of urinary incontinence.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease with IVDS, status post laminectomy, Urinary incontinence
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19184075
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of urinary incontinence to obtain an adequate VA opinion, specifically addressing secondary causation and aggravation by the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include alcohol use disorder, unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, and PTSD was granted. Other claims for various conditions were denied.
- Partly granted
The appeal was partially granted and dismissed, with service connection for urinary incontinence being granted while other claims were either denied or remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for lumbosacral strain status post laminectomy, right lower extremity radiculopathy, sciatic nerve, and a compensable evaluation for urinary incontinence due to missing medical records and an inadequate VA examination.
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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.