The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for back, right leg, and left leg disorders due to potential issues with the presumption of soundness on entry into service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lay statements alone are insufficient to rebut the presumption of soundness as was found in 38 U.S.C. § 1111.
- Claimed conditions
- back disorder, right leg disorder, left leg disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20080139
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.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew the appeal for all service connection and rating issues, and the Board has no jurisdiction to review these matters.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for pes planus (flat feet) and remanded several other issues, including service connection for various disorders and increased ratings for the right knee. The Board granted a 20 percent rating for right knee instability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the service connection claims for various conditions due to a lack of compliance with previous remand directives and inadequate medical opinions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, back disorder, and neuropathy as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to the Veteran's military service.
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