The Board remands the claims for service connection for scoliosis and sciatic radiculopathy to VA for further development, including a medical examination.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to an identified pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding the need for a VA examination to determine the etiology of the claimed conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- scoliosis, left sciatic radiculopathy, right sciatic radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 9, 2024
- Citation
- A24064521
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and other benefits, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings or additional compensation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a new VA examination and medical opinion to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claim for service connection for scoliosis.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 10 percent rating for allergic rhinitis and a 20 percent rating for right sciatic radiculopathy, but denied higher ratings for left sciatic radiculopathy, chronic adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), service connection for chronic sinusitis, pain of the right knee, bilateral hearing loss, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an initial disability rating higher than 40 percent for lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome, degenerative arthritis, degenerative disc disease, spondylosis with moderate-severe foraminal spinal stenosis and scoliosis to obtain a retrospective medical opinion addressing the severity of the Veteran's lumbar spine disability from August 24, 2012, to June 24, 2020.
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