The Board has remanded the Veteran's appeal for additional development due to a procedural error, including securing relevant VA examinations that were not submitted by the Veteran but rather secured by the AOJ. The AOJ must consider this evidence and provide the Veteran and his attorney an opportunity to respond before appellate consideration.
The deciding factor: The AOJ failed to consider pertinent VA examinations secured in accordance with a previous Board remand, which could potentially prejudice the Veteran's appeal if considered in the first instance by the Board.
- Claimed conditions
- scoliosis of the thoracic and lumbar spine with degenerative disc disease (DDD) at L2-L3 and L3-L4, sciatic radiculopathy of the LEFT lower extremity, sciatic radiculopathy of the RIGHT lower extremity, femoral radiculopathy of the LEFT lower extremity, femoral radiculopathy of the RIGHT lower extremity, post-surgical scars of the mid-lower abdomen and mid-back, neurogenic / overactive bladder with urgency, fecal urgency
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 12, 2020
- Citation
- 20073011
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,156 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 20073011.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for sciatic radiculopathy of the RIGHT lower extremity as secondary to degenerative arthritis and degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, increased the rating for PTSD from 50 percent to 70 percent from September 1, 2017 to July 8, 2019, granted TDIU effective January 1, 2014, and awarded SMC based on housebound status effective September 1, 2017.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for low back degenerative disc disease (DDD) with spondylosis, a post-surgical low back scar, and sciatic radiculopathy of both lower extremities. It also granted an increased rating of 30 percent for cervical spine disc protrusions.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection are granted. The Board finds that the Veteran has objective indications of a qualifying chronic disability manifest by fecal urgency and chronic sinusitis, which qualify under the PACT Act provisions. The Veteran's coronary artery disease, respiratory disability (asthma), and neurological impairment of the left hand are remanded due to potential applicability of 38 C.F.R. § 3.317 as a result of his service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations.
- Granted
The Veteran's sciatic radiculopathy of the LEFT and RIGHT lower extremities, as well as his IVDS of the lumbar spine, have been granted increased ratings. The highest possible rating for IVDS based on incapacitating episodes is now in effect.
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