The Veteran's quadriplegia and spinal cord injury are being remanded for further examination to determine if they are secondary to his service-connected psychiatric disability.
The deciding factor: The examiner needs to assess whether the Veteran’s alcohol dependence, which is related to his service-connected psychiatric disability, contributed to his neck injury resulting in quadriplegia and spinal cord injury.
- Claimed conditions
- quadriplegia, spinal cord injury
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19192531
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 19192531.
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 claim for service connection for quadriplegia to correct duty to assist errors, including obtaining outstanding VA treatment records and an adequate medical opinion.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claims for service connection for spinal cord injury, loss of use of bladder, and loss of use of bowel were granted. The claims for loss of use of left and right lower extremities were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the cases for further development due to a duty-to-assist error regarding service connection for spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury on a secondary basis. The Veteran's claims will be sent back to obtain an adequate medical opinion addressing whether his service-connected mood disorder caused or aggravated these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to the need for a VA examination to determine if any current cervical spine disability is related to service, specifically an in-service injury or event.
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