The Board remands the issues of entitlement to a disability rating greater than 10 percent for arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine during the period prior to January 25, 2014 and entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) for further development.
The deciding factor: A VA examination and retrospective medical opinion is needed as to the severity of the service-connected thoracolumbar spine disability during the period prior to January 25, 2014, without consideration of the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2022
- Citation
- 22001014
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, finding that the Veteran's symptoms were consistent with known facts and circumstances of service.
- Granted
The veteran's rating for back disability was restored to 40 percent because the evidence did not show improvement during flare-ups.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for headaches as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected allergic sinusitis.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his claims for increased ratings of various disabilities, including left and right knee degenerative joint disease, left and right ankle degenerative joint disease, and arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine.
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