The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development, including obtaining updated treatment records and addressing whether any spinal surgeries since June 2013 required convalescence.
The deciding factor: Incomplete development was noted, specifically regarding obtaining updated treatment records and addressing whether any spinal surgeries required convalescence.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine with sciatica
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 30, 2020
- Citation
- 20008131
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,699 · Granted: 17% (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 20008131.
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's representative withdrew the appeal, satisfied with his current rating of 40 percent for his back condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for additional VA examinations and records, including treatment from the Biloxi VAMC. The case will be reconsidered based on all evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining service medical records and VA treatment records. The veteran's current low back disorder, numbness of the legs, and migraine headaches are being evaluated to determine if they originated in service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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