The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to outstanding medical records from his treatment at Choice First Chiropractic. The Board needs to obtain these records before making a decision on the rating for his chronic lumbar spine strain.
The deciding factor: Outstanding private medical records are needed to make an informed decision regarding the Veteran's low back disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic lumbar spine strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20041164
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 20041164.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been granted, with the exception of PTSD, anxiety, depression, a disability manifested by chronic sleep impairment, and TDIU. The hearing loss claim is denied as it does not warrant a rating in excess of 30 percent.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the reduction of the Veteran's disability rating from 20% to 10% for chronic lumbar spine strain with degenerative disc disease and spondylosis was not proper, and has reinstated the original 20% rating effective December 21, 2023.
- Granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date for the grants of service connection and increased rating, as well as attorney fees in the amount of 20% of past-due benefits awarded. The appeal was denied only for the grant of an earlier effective date for tinnitus.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for various musculoskeletal conditions, including chronic lumbar spine strain, right lower extremity neuropathy associated with chronic lumbosacral strain, left lower extremity neuropathy associated with chronic lumbosacral strain, chronic right supraspinatus tendonitis and subacromial bursitis and strain (right shoulder), chronic right peroneal tendonitis (right ankle), and right ankle strain was granted. The Veteran is now receiving a 40% rating for the lumbar spine strain since June 4, 2018.
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