The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a new examination to assess the severity of his service-connected lumbar spine degenerative disc disease with arthritis, including assessments of active and passive range of motion in both weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing scenarios.
The deciding factor: The examination is needed due to recent court decisions requiring more comprehensive testing to assess joint function during flare-ups and throughout the entire rating period.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine degenerative disc disease with arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2020
- Citation
- 20081904
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings or service connection.
- Denied
The Board denied earlier effective dates for the grants of service connection for left knee degenerative arthritis, lumbar spine degenerative disc disease with arthritis, and right knee degenerative arthritis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for increased ratings of lumbar spine degenerative disc disease with arthritis, right knee patellofemoral syndrome, and left knee patellofemoral syndrome to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.