The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate VA examination reports for the period prior to April 18, 2017. The Veteran needs a new VA examination and retrospective medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinions are deemed insufficient as they do not provide specific functional impairment assessments during flare-ups or after repeated use without resorting to speculation.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back strain with degenerative disc disease (DDD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2021
- Citation
- 21022451
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 21022451.
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 Veteran's claim for a higher rating for low back strain with degenerative disc disease (DDD) is denied as his symptoms do not meet the criteria for a higher than 20 percent rating.
- Denied
The Veteran's low back strain with DDD is not shown to be more disabling than the currently assigned 10 percent rating.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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