The Veteran's back disability is being remanded for further development, including obtaining VA treatment records and a VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: Further development is needed due to inconsistencies in passive range of motion testing conducted by different examiners.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative changes of the thoracolumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2021
- Citation
- 21001614
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 21001614.
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 granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative changes of the thoracolumbar spine and lumbar spondylosis with multilevel mild and mild-to-moderate neural foraminal stenosis, finding that his back disorder is etiologically related to his active service.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for degenerative changes of the thoracolumbar spine is dismissed.,Two issues on appeal are remanded: entitlement to an initial disability rating in excess of 30 percent prior to April 23, 2013, and in excess of 50 percent therefrom for obstructive sleep apnea; and entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) prior to October 1, 2020.,The issue of an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for obstructive sleep apnea is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded several claims for additional development, including obtaining private treatment records and issuing a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC). The issues include ratings for various disabilities related to TBI, cervical spine, thoracolumbar spine, right shoulder, right knee, left carpal tunnel syndrome, right carpal tunnel syndrome, left thumb sprain, right thumb disability, left hip disability, right hip disability, eye disability, ulnar nerve paresthesias, ankle and wrist disabilities, nausea, constipation, and other conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and rating of his respiratory condition and degenerative changes of the thoracolumbar spine due to incomplete examination findings. The Veteran is asked to provide a new VA opinion regarding the nature and etiology of his respiratory disability, specifically whether it is related to passive asbestos exposure in service. A new VA examination is also needed for the back disability.
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