The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for thoracic, cervical, and lumbar spine disabilities due to issues with VA's duty to assist in obtaining medical records and a lack of an adequate statement of reasons or bases. The Veteran is also requested to provide additional evidence regarding his back injuries during service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the May 2022 VA examiner's opinion was inadequate as it did not consider the Veteran's competent reports of experiencing back pain since discharge and failed to account for potential lost medical records due to incorrect social security numbers. The Board also noted that there were no x-rays of the spine in the service treatment records.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain, C3-C7 DDD with fusion
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 13, 2023
- Citation
- 23050793
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 23050793.
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 Veteran's service connection claims for lumbosacral strain, asthma, melasma and hydradenitis, hypertension, an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression, anxiety, and stress), left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, left knee disorder, a left foot disorder, and IBS have been granted. The remaining issues are remanded.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew their appeal for service connection of a lumbosacral strain, resulting in the dismissal of this issue.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis, finding that it is related to his in-service injury. The claimant did not contest this decision.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, including degenerative arthritis and IVDS. The decision is based on the Veteran's in-service injury during active duty and his continuous symptoms since then.
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