The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and TDIU due to insufficient evidence regarding the nature and origin of the Veteran's neck disability. The case will be returned to the Board once further development is completed.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide an adequate opinion on whether the Veteran's current neck condition is at least as likely as not a result of his in-service injury, due to lack of consideration of the Veteran's lay and buddy statements and private physician's opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- herniated cervical disc
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 4, 2021
- Citation
- 21061474
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,038 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 21061474.
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 her neck disability, finding that there is competent medical evidence indicating it was incurred during her active service.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals of the Veteran's claims for service connection due to his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for Parkinson's disease, herniated cervical disc, and herniated thoracolumbar disc due to incomplete development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining a VA medical opinion and requesting tax returns from the Veteran. The issues of service connection for herniated cervical disc, earlier effective date for lumbar spine w/ bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, neck, hearing loss, tinnitus and basal cell carcinoma scar, and entitlement to TDIU are being remanded.
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