The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and evaluation of his lumbar spine conditions due to incomplete opinions regarding causation and aggravation, as well as a lack of information on flare-ups.
The deciding factor: The examination reports are insufficient in addressing the etiology and severity of the Veteran’s lumbar spine conditions, particularly regarding whether they are caused by or aggravated by service-connected lumbosacral strain.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, Lumbosacral strain
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20060867
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 20060867.
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 claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for the lumbar spine disability prior to October 11, 2022 and since December 1, 2022. The Veteran's claim is currently rated at 10 percent under Diagnostic Code 5242.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability, diagnosed as degenerative arthritis and a lumbosacral strain, is at least as likely as not related to his active service. As such, the claim for service connection is granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was diagnosed during service and has continued since then. The Board granted service connection for this condition based on continuity of symptomatology.
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