The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for multilevel degenerative disc disease and degenerative joint disease with radiculopathy due to inadequate response in previous medical opinions. The AOJ must request an independent medical expert opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's back condition, including consideration of his service treatment records and lay statements.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the prior medical opinions did not adequately address the Veteran's service treatment records and lay statements regarding his symptoms and history.
- Claimed conditions
- multilevel degenerative disc disease (DDD), degenerative joint disease (DJD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 20, 2021
- Citation
- 21023423
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 21023423.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for initial ratings of her left shoulder strain and cervical spine disability due to new evidence or further clarification from the AOJ.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for right shoulder disability, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active service.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted an initial disability rating of 40 percent for lumbosacral strain, DJD, from December 17, 1997 to June 3, 2022, and the effective date for service connection for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy was also set at December 17, 1997. However, a higher rating or TDIU was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The claim for service connection for a left knee condition (to include patellofemoral syndrome and DJD) is remanded for readjudication, as new and relevant evidence has been received sufficient to reopen the claim.
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