The Board has determined that there has not been substantial compliance with the April 2020 remand directives and has therefore ordered the case to be returned for further development.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the failure of the VA examinations and medical opinions provided in the previous remands to comply with the specific instructions given by the Board.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the lower back, arthritis of bilateral hip, arthritis of bilateral knees
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 16, 2023
- Citation
- 23045655
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 23045655.
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 remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral pes planus, arthritis of the lower back, and cervical neck strain due to inadequate medical opinions in the March 2025 rating decision. The claims are being returned for further development.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of the claims for service connection for arthritis of the lower back, cold injury residuals of both hands, and PTSD based on new evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bone pain, including as due to bone density loss related to osteoporosis and osteopenia or related to arthritis and degenerative disc disease. The VA examiners concluded that these conditions did not clearly pre-exist service, were not incurred in service, and are not aggravated by service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral knee arthritis, finding that there was no evidence of a chronic condition during or within one year after service and concluding that any current arthritis is more likely due to natural aging.
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