The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various lower extremity and back disorders due to inadequate VA examination opinions. The Veteran is required to provide additional medical evidence or information, and a new VA examination will be conducted.
The deciding factor: The previous VA examiners failed to consider the Veteran's lay statements regarding her in-service injuries and post-service symptoms, which are considered competent evidence of continuity of symptomatology.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine disorder, Low back disorder, Left shin disorder, Right shin disorder, Right thigh disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20063349
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 20063349.
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 remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for a cervical spine disorder and psychiatric disorder due to incomplete information. The Veteran needs to provide his complete service personnel records, verify his alleged combat experience in Vietnam, and undergo VA examinations for both conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a cervical spine disorder, finding that there was no evidence of a causal relationship between his current condition and his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the initial ratings assigned for psoriatic arthritis of the upper and lower extremities, as well as service connection for a cervical spine disorder, need to be remanded due to incomplete evidence. The Veteran's periods of active duty for training (ADT) and inactive duty for training (IDT) must be confirmed, and all relevant medical records should be obtained.
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