The Board remands the claim for a retrospective medical opinion regarding the severity of the service-connected lumbar spine disability due to an inadequate August 2018 VA examination report.
The deciding factor: The August 2018 VA examination report did not include all necessary findings as required by Correia v. McDonald, and thus was deemed inadequate for assessing the severity of the lumbar spine disability.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis of the spine
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 10, 2024
- Citation
- A24065064
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis of the spine and intervertebral disc syndrome.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities are of such nature and severity as to preclude his participation in any regular substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and occupational experience, warranting a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection for right shoulder rotator cuff tear, right elbow lateral epicondylitis, lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis of the spine, and right hip strain with trochanteric pain syndrome.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings or service connection for the claimed conditions.
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