The Board has granted service connection for post-surgical scars of the low back, secondary to service-connected spinal stenosis. However, the claim for a bilateral lower extremity disability is remanded due to inadequate examination findings.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations were found to be inadequate and further evaluation is needed to determine the nature and etiology of any lower extremity disabilities related to the service-connected spinal stenosis.
- Claimed conditions
- post-surgical scars of the low back, bilateral lower extremity disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20004195
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,810 · Granted: 23% (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 20004195.
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 claims of service connection for bilateral lower extremity disability and abdominal disability due to incomplete records from the Veteran's National Guard service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including hernia, bilateral knee disability, bilateral foot disability, low back disability, bilateral lower extremity disability, and bilateral eye disability, due to a failure to notify the Veteran of the inability to obtain his private treatment records.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings were denied as she failed to report for scheduled VA examinations without good cause.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded all issues to obtain new medical opinions on the veteran's service connection claims.
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