The Board has decided to remand the claims for a low back disability, an acquired psychiatric disability, and seizures due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology. The VA must obtain additional treatment records and provide new medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The current medical opinions are inadequate as they do not consider the Veteran's lay statements about his symptoms during service and thereafter, nor do they adequately address whether any diagnosed conditions began during or within one year of discharge from service.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disability, Acquired psychiatric disability, Seizure disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 22, 2021
- Citation
- 21070080
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 21070080.
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 bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, a low back disability, residuals of a right foot injury, sinusitis, shortness of breath, allergic rhinitis, and sleep apnea as there was no evidence to support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for cirrhosis, hepatitis C, hepatocellular carcinoma, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), gastritis, Barrett's esophagus, and obstructive sleep apnea but dismissed the claim for an acquired psychiatric disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a low back disability and arthritis, to include bilateral hips and knees, due to an inadequate VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a low back disability, left hip disability, right hip disability, prostate disability, and kidney cancer due to inadequate medical opinions and potential outstanding VA treatment records.
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