The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar spine disability and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities are remanded due to the need for a new VA orthopedic examination.
The deciding factor: The previous examination did not comply with the mandates set forth in Sharp, Mitchell, and Correia regarding joint testing and functional impact of flare-ups.
- Claimed conditions
- low back strain with degenerative changes, disk space narrowing, and L1 wedge deformity (lumbar spine disability), right lower extremity radiculopathy associated with low back strain, left lower extremity radiculopathy associated with low back strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 1, 2020
- Citation
- 20063916
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,569 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 20063916.
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.
- Denied
The claim for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is denied because the Veteran did not meet the criteria of being continuously rated totally disabled for at least 10 years immediately preceding his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar spine disability and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy due to inadequate examinations in August 2017. The Veteran is required to provide any outstanding medical records, and a new VA examination will be conducted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for a new examination to assess the current severity of his service-connected lumbar spine and lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities, as he reported worsening symptoms since the last VA examination in April 2010.
- 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.
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