The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development to obtain private treatment records and provide a retrospective medical opinion regarding his lumbar spine disability and neurological disorder of the bilateral lower extremities.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner was not able to provide an adequate retrospective evaluation without addressing the effects of medication, significant evidence of record indicating scoliosis or loss of normal lordosis, and the Veteran's history of a neurological disorder including sciatica.
- Claimed conditions
- spondylolisthesis of the lumbar spine, neurological disorder of the bilateral lower extremities, to include sciatica and/or radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 20, 2022
- Citation
- 22070795
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 22070795.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for spondylolisthesis of the lumbar spine and granted a 20 percent rating, but no higher, for left lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Denied
The Board denied entitlement to a rating in excess of 40 percent for the Veteran's back disability, finding that the evidence did not support an increased rating even when considering flare-ups and functional limitations.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for spondylolisthesis of the lumbar spine as proximately due to changes in gait resulting from the Veteran's service connected left ankle and right knee disabilities.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for spondylolisthesis of the lumbar spine has been dismissed as the Veteran withdrew his appeal.
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