The Board remands the issue of entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent disabling for a lumbar disability for further development and a retroactive medical opinion.
The deciding factor: Further development is necessary due to the Board's reliance on its own medical judgment and the need to address the Veteran's argument regarding severe pain during flare-ups.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar disability
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2023
- Citation
- 23001606
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 service connection for bipolar disorder and denied increased ratings for the lumbar disability, left and right sciatica, and chronic sinusitis. However, it granted an increased rating of 40 percent from March 7, 2022, for left and right sciatic radiculopathy and restored a 30 percent rating for chronic sinusitis.
- Dismissed
The appeal regarding service connection for left and right lower extremity sciatica was dismissed as untimely, while other conditions were remanded for further development.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a lumbar disability and denied increased ratings for various disabilities, except for granting a 60 percent rating for coronary artery disease and a 50 percent rating for PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matters for appropriate VA examinations to determine the nature and severity of the Veteran's lumbar spine and related radiculopathy disabilities.
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