The Board remands the claims for a lumbar spine disability and left knee disability to obtain additional medical opinions addressing secondary service connection theories.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to inadequate VA medical opinions regarding causation and aggravation of the Veteran's back and left knee disabilities by his service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar spine disability (back disability), Left knee disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 19, 2024
- Citation
- 24002923
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic headaches, CFS, dermatosis, bilateral RLS, a lumbar spine disability, and sleep apnea but denied a compensable evaluation for allergic rhinitis.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the claims for an initial compensable rating for left ear sensorineural hearing loss, service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability, and a left eye disorder. However, it granted service connection for a back disability and radiculopathy of both lower extremities as secondary to the back disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right knee disability and PTSD, remanded several claims including those for a left knee disability, right shoulder disability, hypertension, craniomandibular disorder, and a compensable rating for residuals of a right femur fracture.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for various disabilities and granted earlier effective dates for service connection of scars, but denied an earlier effective date for individual unemployability.
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