The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his cervical and lumbar spine disabilities, as well as the separate radiculopathy disabilities, are remanded. Additionally, the claim for service connection for bilateral thrombophlebitis is also remanded.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations were inadequate due to not meeting the requirements of Correia v. McDonald (2016), and there was insufficient information regarding the Veteran's thrombophlebitis disability, including its relationship to his service-connected cervical and lumbar spine disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, Degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, Left upper extremity radiculopathy, Right upper extremity radiculopathy, Left lower extremity radiculopathy, Right lower extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 27, 2020
- Citation
- 20069553
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 216 · Granted: 32% (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 20069553.
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 degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, finding that there is no nexus between the current disability and active duty service.
- Granted
The Board has granted effective dates of July 10, 2024 for service connection for PTSD, lumbar strain, and left lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding whether the Veteran's current conditions are aggravated by his service-connected DDD of the lumbosacral spine. The AOJ is required to obtain new medical opinions addressing this issue.
- Denied
The Veteran's right lower extremity radiculopathy was evaluated at a 20 percent rating, and the Board found that it did not meet the criteria for a higher evaluation.
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