The Board has denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for the Veteran's lumbar spine disability and has remanded her knee claims due to insufficient evidence. The decision summary is that the Veteran's lumbar spine disability does not meet the criteria for a higher rating, while her knee claims are sent back for further examination.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was no objective evidence of a chronic condition in service and no nexus between current disabilities and service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, Left knee disability, Right knee disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 26, 2020
- Citation
- A20016036
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic headaches, CFS, dermatosis, bilateral RLS, a lumbar spine disability, and sleep apnea but denied a compensable evaluation for allergic rhinitis.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the claims for an initial compensable rating for left ear sensorineural hearing loss, service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability, and a left eye disorder. However, it granted service connection for a back disability and radiculopathy of both lower extremities as secondary to the back disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right knee disability and PTSD, remanded several claims including those for a left knee disability, right shoulder disability, hypertension, craniomandibular disorder, and a compensable rating for residuals of a right femur fracture.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for various disabilities and granted earlier effective dates for service connection of scars, but denied an earlier effective date for individual unemployability.
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