The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional examinations to assess the severity of his service-connected low back disability and scar, as well as a TDIU claim due to his combined disability percentage. The current VA examination reports are inadequate.
The deciding factor: The previous VA examination reports do not comply with the requirements set forth in Correia v. McDonald (2016), which mandates that certain range of motion testing be conducted for joint disabilities, including pain on both active and passive motion, in weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- compression fracture of L4, radiculopathy of the left leg
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19193631
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,350 · Granted: 26% (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 19193631.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the issues of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus, radiculopathy of the right and left legs, and right and left knee strains due to a procedural error in docketing the appeal.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for radiculopathy of the left leg, but denied service connection for right and left knee disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including bilateral hearing loss, low back condition, radiculopathy of the left leg, PTSD, and prostate cancer, have prevented him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment. The Board has granted a TDIU effective August 19, 2021.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand several issues related to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including low back disability, radiculopathy of the lower extremities, ankle disabilities, and right shoulder disability. The appeals are being remanded for additional development, including obtaining VA treatment records and arranging for updated examinations.
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