The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's degenerative disc disease of the thoracic spine is related to her service. The Veteran contends that her current condition is a result of heavy lifting during her time as an Air Passenger Specialist/Supervisor, which she claims caused her back pain since service.
The deciding factor: The Board found the VA clinician’s opinion inadequate due to its reliance on the absence of complaints and documentation in post-service records, ignoring the Veteran's credible contentions of back pain since service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the thoracic spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 9, 2023
- Citation
- 23044389
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 23044389.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the VA examination conducted in December 2019 did not comply with the remand directives and is therefore remanded for another examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected thoracic degenerative disc disease.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for a separate disability rating for radiculopathy of the bilateral lower extremities as an objective neurological abnormality of his service-connected thoracic spine DDD, finding no evidence of diagnosed radiculopathy and that any peripheral neuropathy is not proximately due to or aggravated by his service-connected thoracic spine DDD.
- Granted
The Veteran's DDD of the thoracic spine is granted as a result of it manifesting to a degree of at least 10% within one year of service separation, and he had active service for more than 90 days. The T-8 fracture preexisted service but did not aggravate during service.
- Denied
The Board denied reopening of service connection for DDD of the thoracic spine because the new evidence did not show a relationship to service.
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