The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's paraplegia is proximately due to or a result of his service-connected lumbar spine conditions, and whether it is aggravated by those conditions. The VA must provide an addendum opinion addressing these issues.
The deciding factor: The VA needs to obtain an addendum opinion from an examiner that addresses the medical evidence of record, including the June 2014 private physician report from Dr. CD, which referenced an August 2012 MRI showing disc bulges compressing spinal nerves and opining that the Veteran's condition is likely a continuation of service.
- Claimed conditions
- Osteoarthritis, Degenerative Disc Disease, Transverse Myelitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2020
- Citation
- 20068698
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 961 · 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 20068698.
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
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