The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to conflicting opinions regarding his lumbar and thoracic spine conditions.,Specifically, the examiner needs clarification on whether the pre-existing arthritis of the spine was related to the lumbar or thoracic spine issues.
The deciding factor: There is conflicting evidence regarding which part of the Veteran's spine had arthritic changes and their relation to service.
- Claimed conditions
- {"condition_name":"Lumbar spine disability","details":"multilevel degenerative changes with disc bulges, facet hypertrophy, and bilateral foraminal narrowing"}, {"condition_name":"Thoracic spine disability","details":"T8 hemivertebrae, scoliosis, and loss of stature of the body of T9 on the right due to compression fracture"}
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20007160
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.
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- Granted
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