The Veteran's service-connected mechanical lumbar strain is being remanded to determine if the additional diagnoses of disc disease, sacroiliitis, left hip trochanteric bursitis, and bilateral radiculopathy are related to her service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: The examiner needs to distinguish between symptoms and functional impairment directly attributable to mechanical lumbar strain versus those not related to it.
- Claimed conditions
- mechanical lumbar strain, disc disease, sacroiliitis, left hip trochanteric bursitis, bilateral radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 22, 2021
- Citation
- 21024230
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 21024230.
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 claim for TDIU prior to October 18, 2018 due to a lack of evidence showing that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities prevented him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for right hip trochanteric bursitis, left hip trochanteric bursitis, right iliotibial band inflammation, and left iliotibial band inflammation due to a duty-to-assist error in obtaining private treatment records.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for back disability, left hip disability, and right hip disability have been granted.,An effective date of August 14, 2018, has been assigned for the grant of service connection for tinnitus.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to obtain an addendum medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's back disability, specifically addressing whether there was aggravation during service and if the lumbar spondylosis, lumbar radiculopathy, sacroiliitis, and failed back surgery syndrome had onset in service.
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