The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development to determine the nature and etiology of his back condition, left lower radiculopathy, and headaches. The claims are also remanded to obtain service entrance records and INACDUTRA status information.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that further development is needed to address the Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection due to inconsistencies in medical opinions and missing records.
- Claimed conditions
- compression fracture of L1 disc with degenerative disc disease and lumbosacral spine arthritis, left lower radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 6, 2023
- Citation
- 23000864
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 163 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 23000864.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right upper radiculopathy and left upper radiculopathy, but denied service connection for right lower radiculopathy and left lower radiculopathy as secondary to a thoracolumbar spine condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected orthopedic disabilities necessitate the need for aid and assistance of another to care for herself or protect her from daily environment hazards.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for her knee conditions and TDIU have been dismissed as she has withdrawn them. The Board finds that the Veteran is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation due to her service-connected disabilities from May 10, 2010.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU claim is granted. The Board has also remanded the cases for increased rating examinations.
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