The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's current lumbar spine disability is related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner needs clarification on whether any current back disability was caused by an incident or occurrence in service, had its clinical onset during service, or is etiologically related to the Veteran’s active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative changes of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20003355
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 Veteran withdrew the appeal for reductions in ratings for post operative left femur fracture with leg length discrepancy and chondromalacia residuals, and degenerative changes of the lumbar spine.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded all issues for further development, including higher initial ratings for various conditions and effective dates for ratings and benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a VA retrospective medical opinion to determine the full description of the effects of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities on his ability to secure and follow substantially gainful employment.
- Granted
The Board grants service connection for degenerative changes of the lumbar spine as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected left total knee replacement.
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