The Board has remanded the cases of entitlement to service connection for a low back disability and meralgia paresthetica due to inadequate VA medical opinions. The case is now returned for additional medical opinions addressing whether the Veteran's service-connected left foot and knee disabilities caused or aggravated his claimed conditions.
The deciding factor: The Court in Ward v. Wilkie held that service connection on a secondary basis does not require a permanent worsening of disability, only an incremental increase due to service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- low back disability, meralgia paresthetica
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19185147
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 claims for service connection for various disabilities to the AOJ for further development and consideration of evidence not previously considered.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the veteran's claimed conditions, including right shoulder arthritis, left shoulder arthritis, right hip condition, left hip condition, low back disability, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, as there was no evidence of in-service injury or illness related to these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disability to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hemorrhoids, scars, low back disability, left ankle disability, left and right shoulder disabilities, and left and right hip disabilities as the evidence did not show that the Veteran had these conditions or related symptoms during the appeal period.
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