The Veteran's appeal for increased evaluations of his service-connected thoracolumbar spine disabilities and associated radiculopathy is being remanded due to procedural defects and the need for a retrospective medical assessment.
The deciding factor: Procedural defects were identified, including a failure to obtain private treatment records and a lack of response from the AOJ. Additionally, there are conflicting findings regarding the Veteran's reported symptoms of radiculopathy.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracolumbar spine disabilities, rubiculopathy of the right femoral nerve
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2024
- Citation
- 24000396
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 399 · Granted: 41% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 24000396.
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 multiple disabilities, including cervical spine and thoracolumbar spine disabilities, radiculopathies, a bladder disability, headaches, a left knee disability, an acquired psychiatric disorder, and bilateral conjunctivitis. The Board also granted entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's thoracolumbar and cervical spine disabilities are service-connected as they arose from in-service injuries, including combat operations.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for thoracolumbar spine disabilities in March 2010. The new evidence received since that decision is considered duplicative and does not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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