The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete VA medical opinions regarding the Veteran's service connection claim for a back disability, which may be related to his active duty service or secondary to his service-connected bilateral knee disability.
The deciding factor: Incomplete VA medical opinions were provided and require additional clarification on whether the Veteran's current back disability is directly related to his active duty service or aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disability.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic thoracolumbar strain, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, degenerative arthritis of the spine with intervertebral disc syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20080767
Veterans Law Judge
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 20080767.
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 has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development of records and will provide a supplemental statement of the case if necessary.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the spine with intervertebral disc syndrome was granted service connection as it is at least as likely as not secondary to his in-service injury.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability was rated at 40% prior to September 28, 2018. From that date, the rating was increased to 50%. The earlier effective date for TDIU is denied.
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