The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to June 26, 2012 for the grant of service connection for a lumbar spine disability has been denied.,The Veteran's claim for increased rating for his lumbar spine disability is remanded due to alleged worsening since the last VA examination in June 2019 and failure to describe probable additional losses in functionality during flare-ups.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a cervical spine disability, secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine disability, has been raised.
The deciding factor: There is no legal basis upon which to assign an effective date earlier than June 26, 2012 as that was the date on which VA received the Veteran's application to reopen the claim for service connection for his lumbar spine disability.,The June 2019 VA Medical Opinion did not provide estimations regarding the probable additional losses in functionality during flare-ups and failed to address the correct level of confidence, necessitating a new examination.,VA is obligated to develop and adjudicate related claims for secondary service connection for disabilities that are reasonably raised during the adjudication of an increased rating claim.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 10, 2021
- Citation
- 21068356
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 21068356.
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 claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee disability, right knee disability, lumbar spine disability, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as these issues have been addressed in a separate docket.
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