The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection due to new and material evidence. However, the issue of whether his current low back disability is related to his active service remains pending as it requires additional medical examination and opinion.
The deciding factor: The need for an addendum VA medical opinion considering all relevant factors including the Veteran's lay statements about not seeking treatment until after service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease at L4-5 and L5-S1, Recurrent lumbar disc herniation
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2024
- Citation
- 24004770
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,726 · Granted: 19% (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 24004770.
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 denied increased ratings for the Veteran's degenerative disc disease at L4-5 and L5-S1, right shoulder condition, right elbow conditions, left knee osteoarthritis with meniscal tear, postmenopausal acne, and surgical scars of the lower back and right elbow. However, a 60 percent rating was granted for hypothyroidism prior to July 8, 2024, and TDIU from July 30, 2013.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for his service-connected L4-5 laminectomy/discectomy with degenerative disc disease at L4-5 and L5-S1 has been dismissed due to the appellant's withdrawal of the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further development due to incomplete medical opinions and need for additional records. The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is being reviewed, as well as his seborrheic dermatitis of the bilateral ears.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded several issues related to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including increased evaluations for his lumbar spine disability and seborrheic dermatitis of the bilateral ears. The issues include entitlement to TDIU which is inextricably intertwined with these claims.
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