The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for spine disabilities due to new evidence and increased symptomatology. A new VA examination is needed to assess the current severity of his service-connected lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spine conditions.
The deciding factor: The Veteran testified that his spine disabilities have worsened since his last VA examination, necessitating a new evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- levoscoliosis with degenerative changes of the lumbar and thoracic spine, cervical degenerative disc disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19185997
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,446 · Granted: 21% (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 19185997.
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 effective dates of November 6, 2020 for both the TDIU and DEA benefits. The Veteran had no service-connected disabilities prior to this date.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a lack of an adequate opinion regarding whether the Veteran's cervical spine disability is caused or aggravated by his service-connected lumbar disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for cervical spine degenerative disc disease due to insufficient evidence regarding its onset and relationship to his military service. An additional VA examination is needed to address these matters.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for special monthly compensation (SMC) and special monthly pension (SMP) based on need for regular aid and attendance (A&A) or housebound status due to insufficient evidence showing that he needed such assistance.
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