The Board has remanded the case for further examination and opinion regarding the Veteran's bone pain disability due to bone density loss, including osteoporosis and osteopenia. The examiner is asked to clarify whether certain diagnoses are related to service and provide an opinion on their etiology.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinions were found to be inadequate and based on inaccurate factual premises.
- Claimed conditions
- bone pain due to bone density loss (including osteoporosis and osteopenia), degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, scoliosis, degenerative arthritis of bilateral feet, degenerative arthritis of bilateral knees, compression fractures
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 28, 2022
- Citation
- 22011246
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 22011246.
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 Veteran's claim for service connection for a back condition, including degenerative disc disease and scoliosis, due to lack of current disability evidence.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension, left knee patellofemoral syndrome, and right knee patellofemoral syndrome have been granted service connection as secondary to his service-connected disabilities. The lumbar spine disability has also been granted but the effective date is not specified.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss are granted as service-connected. The Veteran's cervical spine disability is remanded for further examination to determine the current severity of his condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to deficiencies in the duty to assist, and will require a VA examination to determine if the Veteran's pre-existing scoliosis and/or additional lumbar vertebra clearly and unmistakably existed prior to service and whether any increase in severity during service was due to natural progression.
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