The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining medical records from the Campbell Clinic regarding the Veteran's December 2016 lumbar spine surgery and follow-up care.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on incomplete medical records that need to be obtained to fully assess the Veteran's condition.
- Claimed conditions
- spondylosis lumbar spine with stenosis T11-T12, bulging disc L2-L3, osteoarthritis L4-L5 and L5-S1
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 8, 2020
- Citation
- 20065504
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,797 · Granted: 20% (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 20065504.
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 Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his service-connected lumbar spine disability was denied as the evidence did not show flexion to 30 degrees or less, ankylosis, or incapacitating episodes.,The Veteran's claim for a temporary total rating (TTR) based on convalescence following surgery in December 2016 was also denied due to lack of documentation showing required convalescence period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's back disability is currently rated as 10 percent disabling. The Board has ordered a remand to obtain additional medical records and conduct a new VA examination to evaluate the current severity of his service-connected back disability.
- 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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