The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's service connection claim for chronic residuals of a motor vehicle accident. The Veteran is seeking service connection for his musculoskeletal disabilities, including those affecting his spine and arms, which he contends are related to an in-service motor vehicle accident.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the April 2016 VA medical opinion was inadequate due to its reliance on the absence of abnormal physical findings until 1990 despite evidence of arthritic deformities prior to the 1990 post-service accident.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine, thoracic spine, cervical spine, bilateral shoulders, bilateral arms
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2020
- Citation
- 20067026
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 Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including cervical spine, chronic fatigue, and various nerve damages, as the evidence did not support a finding of a current disability related to in-service events.
- Granted
The veteran was granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Board granted a 10 percent disability rating for the Veteran's service-connected cervical spine, finding that there was functional loss due to pain causing additional disability beyond that reflected on range of motion measurements.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee strain, left knee strain, lumbar radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, and lumbar radiculopathy of the left lower extremity. It also granted initial ratings for various disabilities including a 20 percent rating for lumbar degenerative disc disease with intervertebral disc syndrome, spondylosis, and spondylolisthesis, a 30 percent rating for labral tear, including superior labral anterior-posterior lesion, status post surgical repair, and higher ratings for other conditions.
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