The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development, including obtaining private medical records and scheduling a VA examination.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lower back conditions may be related to his service-connected stress fractures but further evaluation is needed to determine their etiology and relationship.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative spine disease, Herniated disk
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19192248
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,820 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19192248.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a back condition, finding that his degenerative spine disease is unrelated to active duty service and attributing it instead to naturally occurring age-related changes.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for RLE and LLE radiculopathy, as well as lumbar discogenic disease and degenerative spine disease, were denied. The case is remanded to obtain additional medical opinions regarding the extent of range of motion loss.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for a lumbar spine disability due to new and material evidence, but remanded for further development as there are conflicting medical opinions regarding the cause of his disability.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cervical spine condition, including degenerative disk disease and a herniated disk, is currently rated at 60 percent since April 25, 2012. The rating reflects the severity of his symptoms, which include limited range of motion and severe pain.
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