The Board has decided to remand the case for further development and medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's current spinal disabilities are related to the October 2011 surgery performed at the Houston VA medical center.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the need for a new VA medical opinion to address the nature and etiology of the Veteran’s current spinal disabilities, specifically if they resulted from carelessness or negligence by VA in association with the 2011 surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- Paralysis, Additional impairment of the spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2020
- Citation
- 20002418
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 20002418.
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 Veteran's PTSD symptoms have resulted in occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, warranting a 70 percent rating. The TDIU claim is granted from June 30, 2018 to January 5, 2019.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities render him so helpless as to be in need of the regular aid and attendance of another person, resulting in a grant of SMC based on this need. However, higher levels of SMC are available under the law, which requires remand for further adjudication.
- Granted
The Board finds the evidence sufficient to show that the Appellant was in need of regular aid and attendance at the time she filed her claim for an earlier effective date for the aid and attendance award. The Veteran's VA mental health treatment records consistently indicated that the Appellant required constant care from him prior to his death.
- Denied
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