The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 20 percent prior to July 26, 2019 for degenerative arthritis with spinal stenosis and intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) due to insufficient medical evidence addressing functional loss or additional loss due to flare-ups and repetitive use over time.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the VA examiners did not provide sufficient information regarding the Veteran's pain on range of motion during flare-ups and after repeated use, as required by DeLuca v. Brown (1995) and Sharp v. Shulkin (2017).
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis with spinal stenosis and intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 12, 2021
- Citation
- 21062838
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,030 · Granted: 17% (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 21062838.
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 degenerative arthritis with spinal stenosis and IVDS was rated at 20 percent prior to July 26, 2019. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on functional loss due to pain or flare-ups.
- 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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