The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have rendered him unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment, effective February 14, 2011. The case is remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has multiple service-connected conditions that significantly impact his ability to work, including mood disorder, lumbosacral strain, intervertebral disc syndrome, and bilateral ankle disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- mood disorder (claimed as depression), lumbosacral strain and intervertebral disc syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20070117
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,614 · Granted: 35% (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 20070117.
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 Board granted service connection for the Veteran's low back condition, diagnosed as lumbosacral strain and intervertebral disc syndrome.
- Partly granted
The Board granted restoration of a 50 percent evaluation for bilateral pes planus and denied increased ratings for left knee arthritis, right knee strain, varicocele, lumbosacral strain and intervertebral disc syndrome, and right lower extremity radiculopathy. Erectile dysfunction was granted service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further evidentiary development and to ensure procedural due process.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, finding that her service-connected conditions did not prevent her from securing and following substantially gainful employment.
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