The Board has decided that further development is necessary to determine if the Veteran's lumbar spine condition is secondary to his service-connected left shoulder disability.
The deciding factor: The August 2020 VA examiner did not discuss the Veteran’s fall in the spring of 2007 or address Dr. R.O.’s May 2019 opinion, which was requested by the Board.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine with radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 22, 2020
- Citation
- 20080377
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,272 · Granted: 31% (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 20080377.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's low back disability with radiculopathy is related to his service, specifically combat boot road marches and physical fitness training.
- Granted
The Board finds that the Veteran's DDD of the lumbar spine with radiculopathy is at least as likely as not related to a disease or injury in service, and grants service connection for this condition.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
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