The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and secondary service connection due to insufficient opinions regarding the relationship between the Veteran's low back degenerative joint disease and his left leg neuropathy, specifically whether it is proximately due or aggravated by a service-connected knee condition.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide sufficient detail in their opinion regarding whether the Veteran's low back condition was proximately caused or aggravated by his service-connected knee condition for secondary service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the low back, Neuropathy of the left leg (also claimed as nerve damage, left leg)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 5, 2021
- Citation
- 21061685
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,432 · Granted: 29% (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 21061685.
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 service connection for degenerative joint disease of the low back and hypertension, as well as SMC based on being housebound. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions addressing whether the Veteran's lower back degenerative condition is secondary to his service-connected knee disability. The claim for neuropathy of the left leg will also be remanded as it is inextricably intertwined with the lower back claim.
- Granted
The Veteran's ischemic heart disease is granted as service-connected due to presumed exposure to herbicides during service in the Republic of Vietnam. The low back and bilateral knee disorders are denied as not incurred or caused by service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for additional development due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's low back and left leg conditions.
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