The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's left low back disability, including left piriformis syndrome with focal gluteal pain and intermittent sciatica, is related to his in-service injury. The Veteran needs additional medical opinions on this issue.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there are insufficient medical opinions addressing the etiology of the Veteran's current condition and remanded for further examination and opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- left low back disability, left piriformis syndrome with focal gluteal pain and intermittent sciatica
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19190639
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 19190639.
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 has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA examination. The Veteran's left low back disability, including intervertebral disc syndrome, degenerative spondylolisthesis, central canal spinal stenosis, and left lower extremity radiculopathy, is being reviewed for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain updated VA treatment records and conduct a new medical examination. The purpose of the remand is to clarify whether any additional low back disability resulted from an injection administered by VA for right-sided low back pain.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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