The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims for service connection for back and neck conditions due to new evidence. However, the claims are still pending as they have been remanded for additional development.
The deciding factor: New evidence submitted by the Veteran raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating his claims for service connection for back and neck conditions but further investigation is needed to determine if the injuries occurred during active duty or training.
- Claimed conditions
- Back Condition, Cervical Condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 1, 2021
- Citation
- 21071955
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 21071955.
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 August 1996 rating decision denied service connection for a back condition due to the claim being considered not well-grounded, as there was no current disability and no evidence of in-service injury or disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error in the VA examination for service connection of the back condition and requires an addendum opinion to address whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's back disability began in service or was caused by any incident of service.
- Granted
The Board has granted effective dates of August 12, 2024 for the awards of a 50% rating for sinusitis and a 40% rating for intervertebral disc syndrome of the lumbar spine. Service connection for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve was also granted effective on that date.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for right knee, left knee, and back conditions due to inadequate medical opinions provided by VA. The Veteran is seeking service connection for these conditions, which he asserts had its onset during active service.
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