The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for back and neck disabilities due to Gulf War Illness, as they are related to medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide a rationale for their opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran’s claimed conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- spondylolisthesis of L5-S1, cervicalgia
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19195346
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,762 · Granted: 24% (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 19195346.
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 a lack of evidence regarding the etiology of the Veteran's cervical spine disorder and an incomplete record of chiropractic care. The Veteran is requested to provide or authorize VA to obtain his treatment records from chiropractors, and an addendum opinion will be provided by a VA examiner.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical evidence and a need for an examination to determine if the Veteran's current upper back and cervical disabilities are related to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions have been denied due to a lack of current diagnoses.,The Veteran has withdrawn her claims for right pretibial edema, hyperlipidemia, hypokalemia, an acquired psychiatric disorder, difficulty swallowing, and left eye cornea scarring.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for special monthly compensation based on aid and attendance for his spouse, finding that she did not meet the criteria set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 3.352(a) due to her ability to leave the house with assistance.
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