The Board has remanded the case for further development to determine if the Veteran's lumbar spine disorder is caused or aggravated by his service-connected right knee disorder, and whether obesity played a role in causing or aggravating this condition.
The deciding factor: Further examination is needed to establish the nature and etiology of the Veteran's lumbar spine disorder and its relationship to his service-connected right knee disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disorder, intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), degenerative disc disorder (DDD)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20081489
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 his claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disorder, diabetes mellitus, and bilateral diabetic neuropathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis of the spine and intervertebral disc syndrome.
- Dismissed
The Board denied the veteran's appeal for timely filing of an appeal request, dismissing the attempted appeal.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a separate 20 percent rating for intervertebral disc syndrome based on limited cervical range of motion and a 40 percent rating for IVDS based on limited thoracolumbar range of motion, while dismissing the appeal for service connection for a right knee disability.
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