The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disability and bilateral foot conditions. The cases are being remanded to obtain additional medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of these conditions.
The deciding factor: New evidence received since the last final denial shows current diagnoses that relate to unestablished facts necessary to substantiate the claims, including DJD at L3-S1 for the lumbar spine disability and osteoarthritis of the left foot for the bilateral foot condition.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability, left foot condition
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20001186
Veterans Law Judge
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 20001186.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee disability, right knee disability, lumbar spine disability, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as these issues have been addressed in a separate docket.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus. Service connection is being remanded for the lumbar spine disability and right knee and calf disabilities.
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