The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for a back disorder is remanded due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including the failure to seek records of alleged assaults by VA personnel and the inadequacy of the VA examination opinion.
The deciding factor: The decision was remanded because there were pre-decisional duty to assist errors regarding the Veteran's allegations of assault by VA personnel and the adequacy of the VA examination opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic back disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 18, 2023
- Citation
- A23028843
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 A23028843.
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 an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include anxiety and depression, and a chronic back disorder, both for the purposes of accrued benefits only.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a chronic back disorder and for TDIU, finding that there is no evidence to support these claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for schizo-affective disorder, depressed type and a chronic back disorder due to additional development of medical records and obtaining opinions from VA evaluators.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for bladder cancer is granted due to presumed exposure to herbicide agents during active duty. The claims for chronic back disorder, hyperparathyroidism and/or thyroid disorder, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease are remanded as the evidence does not establish a direct link to service.
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