The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to conflicting opinions and need for additional medical examination.
The deciding factor: There are conflicting medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's spine conditions, GI disability, or other disabilities are caused by his service-connected diabetes mellitus (DM2).
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine, Degenerative Joint Disease (DDD) of the cervical spine, Bilateral Trochanteric Pain Syndrome, Gastrointestinal (GI) disability, to include colonic polyps and diverticulosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 3, 2023
- Citation
- 23007105
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 23007105.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for TDIU is dismissed. The Board has remanded the claims of higher ratings for DDD of the lumbar spine, left lower extremity radiculopathy associated with DDD of the lumbar spine, and a left ankle disability.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for DJD/DDD of the lumbar spine and arthritis of the bilateral knees as secondary to service-connected feet and ankle disabilities. The Veteran's hearing loss is not compensable.
- Dismissed
The Veteran has withdrawn his appeals for the issues of entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 40 percent for DDD of the lumbar spine and entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for diabetes mellitus, type II.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar spine disability has been rated at 20 percent since March 20, 2012. The Board finds that the Veteran is entitled to a higher rating for his lumbar spine disability prior to this date.
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