The Board has remanded the case for further development to confirm the Veteran's employment history and determine if he is unemployable due to his service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: Further development is needed to ensure a complete employment history is provided, which may impact the determination of whether the Veteran is unemployable due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- herniated nucleus pulposus, rheumatoid arthritis (left lower extremity), rheumatoid arthritis (right lower extremity)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 5, 2020
- Citation
- 20064552
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,044 · Granted: 21% (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 20064552.
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 need for the regular aid and attendance of another person was determined due to his service-connected disabilities, leading to a grant of special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for aid and attendance for accrued benefits purposes.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for rheumatoid arthritis in all extremities, Sjogren's syndrome, a skin condition, and a thyroid condition. The evaluation for diabetes was denied, but the Veteran received an increased rating of 40 percent for peripheral neuropathy in both lower extremities from May 17, 2018, as well as TDIU.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded all issues for further development and examination. The Veteran's claims involve various ratings for service-connected disabilities related to the lumbar spine, lower extremities, and knees.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his lumbosacral degenerative joint disease and herniated nucleus pulposus (lumbar spine disorder) was denied as the disability does not meet or more nearly approximate the criteria for a rating greater than 20 percent.
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