The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient rationale in the VA examiner's opinion regarding whether the Veteran's low back disability is related to his active service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide a sufficient rationale for their conclusion that the Veteran’s low back disability is less likely than not related to his active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- intervertebral disc syndrome (low back disability)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19194867
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,446 · Granted: 21% (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 19194867.
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 claims for earlier effective dates and initial compensable ratings, finding that the earliest possible effective date for service connection for a low back disability was April 27, 2016.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claims for increased evaluation for low back disability and left lower extremity radiculopathy were denied. A separate compensable evaluation of 10 percent for right lower extremity radiculopathy was granted. The claim for TDIU was denied, and the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder was remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability and related sciatic radiculopathies of the left and right lower extremities are rated at a 20 percent for lumbosacral strain with L5 herniated nucleus pulposus and intervertebral disc syndrome (low back disability) from September 8, 2015. The Veteran's low back disability is also rated at a 60 percent based on incapacitating episodes of IVDS since October 30, 2019.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a higher rating for her low back disability and TDIU due to service-connected disabilities prior to March 19, 2021. The case will be returned to the AOJ for further development.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.