The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine is being remanded due to incomplete information from a previous VA examination.
The deciding factor: The April 2019 VA examiner did not provide specific degrees of range of motion loss during flare-ups, which was requested in prior remand instructions.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease (DDD) lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 8, 2020
- Citation
- 20045411
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 20045411.
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 appeals regarding effective dates and increased ratings for PTSD with depression and anxiety disorder, as well as DDD lumbar spine, have been withdrawn.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for high cholesterol due to it not being a disability. The case is remanded for further examinations and evaluations of the Veteran's lumbar spine, recurring inverted papilloma, hypertension, and bilateral hearing loss.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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