The Board has remanded the cases for a new VA medical opinion from an orthopedic surgeon or neurosurgeon to determine if the Veteran's paraplegia of the lower extremities, loss of bladder control, and/or any additional lumbar spine disability was proximately caused by carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault on the part of VA in performing the February 3, 2015 surgery.
The deciding factor: The new medical opinion is needed to address whether there was any fault (carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill) in the performance of the surgery that caused the Veteran's disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- paraplegia of the bilateral lower extremities, loss of bladder control, loss of bowel control
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 5, 2023
- Citation
- 23000741
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 23000741.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including loss of bowel control and multilevel spondylosis, have resulted in a need for regular aid and attendance. The claim is granted subject to the laws governing payment of monetary benefits.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claim for entitlement to service connection for prostate cancer and denied earlier effective dates for the awards of service connection for loss of use of the bilateral lower legs and loss of bladder control.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for erectile dysfunction, loss of bowel control, and loss of bladder control as they were not caused by carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instances of fault on the part of VA.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's left and right lower extremity radiculopathies, sciatic nerve, are each granted a 40 percent rating.,Service connection for loss of bladder control and loss of bowel control is granted as secondary to service-connected low back disability and gastritis with irritable bowel syndrome.
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