The Board has determined that new examinations are needed for the Veteran's cervical, lumbar, and bilateral knee conditions due to inconsistent results from previous VA examinations. The Veteran's skin condition is also remanded as her current diagnosis does not align with her claimed acne. The right and left ankle disabilities are also remanded as there is conflicting medical evidence regarding their relationship to service-connected lower back strain.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that the Veteran requires new examinations for her cervical, lumbar, and bilateral knee conditions due to inconsistent results from previous VA examinations. Additionally, her skin condition does not align with her claimed acne, and the right and left ankle disabilities are remanded as there is conflicting medical evidence regarding their relationship to service-connected lower back strain.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical strain, Lower back strain, Right knee strain, Left knee strain, Skin condition (claimed as acne), Right ankle disability, Left ankle disability
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19187311
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 19187311.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a right knee disability, finding that there was no nexus between his current condition and active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for cervical strain, service connection for left leg pain (claimed as joint pain), and service connection for a left ear hearing condition are being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for cervical spine strain, right wrist sprain, right knee strain, left knee strain, and right ankle strain. The disabilities are all deemed to have begun during the Veteran's active duty.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of January 10, 1997, for a 10% disability rating for his right ankle disability is denied as there was no CUE in the previous decisions.
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