The Board reopened the claim for service connection for a lower back disability as new and material evidence was received, but remanded it for further development.
The deciding factor: The private medical opinions provided were not sufficient to establish a link between the Veteran's current condition and his active duty service due to conflicting lay statements and lack of contemporaneous medical records supporting the in-service injury claims.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2023
- Citation
- 23001142
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 granted service connection for a lower back disability, finding that the Veteran's current condition had its onset during his service and has progressively worsened since separation.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD, effective March 8, 2023, but no earlier. Other claims were denied or remanded.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for lower back disability, right shoulder disability, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) was denied due to the untimely filing of the Board Appeal request.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for tinnitus, a lower back disability, residuals of inguinal hernia repair, residuals of umbilical hernia repair, and sinusitis. Service connection was denied for an ulcer, bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, diabetes mellitus type II, and acne.
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