The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to a pre-decisional error in considering the severity of his lumbar spine disability and associated neurologic abnormalities under the appropriate rating criteria, including Note (1) from the General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine.
The deciding factor: There was an error in not considering Note (1) from the General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine, which could affect the severity assessment of the Veteran's lumbar spine disability and associated neurologic abnormalities.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine degenerative changes at L3-4 with stenosis, sciatica
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 8, 2020
- Citation
- A20018158
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 Board denied the veteran's appeals for service connection due to untimely filings.
- Dismissed
The Board denied the veteran's attempts to appeal rating decisions that denied service connection for various conditions and reduced his evaluation, as the appeals were not timely filed.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death while it was pending.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for diabetic peripheral neuropathy as it is etiologically linked to the Veteran's service-connected diabetes. Other claims were remanded for further development.
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