The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate examination and lack of consideration of relevant evidence, including service treatment records.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not test passive or non-weight-bearing range of motion as required by the Board's prior remand directives.
- Claimed conditions
- mid-back spasms, muscle strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 8, 2022
- Citation
- 22062571
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 22062571.
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 Veteran's claim for SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance was denied because his service-connected disabilities alone do not render him unable to protect himself from daily living hazards.,The Veteran's claim for SMC based on housebound status was also denied as he does not meet the statutory or factual criteria for an award of SMC based on housebound status.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence of onset and etiology, requiring VA examinations. The PACT Act presumption applies to TERA exposure.
- Granted
The Board has granted the petition to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for a back disability and has determined that there is sufficient evidence to support the claim, finding it at least as likely as not that the Veteran's current back strain and degenerative changes in the thoracolumbar spine are related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has ordered a retrospective examination to assess the severity of the Veteran's service-connected mid-back spasms and muscular strain condition prior to September 2019 due to inadequate reasons and bases regarding whether the October 2013 VA examination complies with the Court's holding in Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 26 (2017) and Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158 (2016).
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