The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for cervical spine, lower back, and left knee conditions due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology. The Veteran must be provided with additional VA examinations to address these issues.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions relied on by the October 2014 examiner were based on incomplete factual premises and did not consider all relevant evidence of record, including service treatment records and the Veteran's lay statements regarding his symptoms and injuries during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine condition, Lower back condition, Left knee condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 18, 2020
- Citation
- 20041512
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 20041512.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for cervical spine condition and left shoulder condition due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as VA failed to provide the Veteran with VA examinations and medical opinions to assess the nature and etiology of his conditions.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals for higher disability ratings in excess of 20 percent for cervical spine and lumbar spine conditions, left knee condition, right knee condition, and sinusitis. The Veteran was granted service connection for chronic laryngeal papillomatosis.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a cervical spine condition was granted as new and relevant evidence has been received. The case is remanded to obtain additional medical records, provide a VA examination, and determine the etiology of the Veteran's cervical spine condition.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a bowel condition, and a bladder condition. The Board found no evidence of a current disability for these conditions and concluded that any relationship to service is not supported by the medical evidence.
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