The Veteran's low back disability is being remanded for a new evaluation to determine its current severity.
The deciding factor: The Veteran was unable to attend the scheduled examination due to other health concerns, and the Board finds this constitutes good cause for not having received an updated VA examination.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back strain with degenerative disc disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 8, 2022
- Citation
- 22067730
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 22067730.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings due to insufficient retrospective medical opinions addressing additional functional loss during flareups and with repeated use over time. The VA needs to obtain new addendum opinions for both cervical spine and low back disabilities.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not render him unemployable prior to May 21, 2012. The Board found that the evidence did not support his claim for a TDIU on an extraschedular basis.
- Granted
The Veteran's sciatica, right lower extremity is now rated at 40 percent effective July 7, 2021. The low back strain with degenerative disc disease remains rated at 40 percent. The rating for sciatica prior to December 2, 2019 was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional examinations and information to determine appropriate disability ratings.
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