The appeals for service connection for cervical spine and lumbar spine degenerative disc disease were remanded to cure pre-decisional duty to assist errors by the RO.
The deciding factor: Remand was necessary due to inadequate VA medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of the claimed conditions, as they did not address all relevant evidence in the matter.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine degenerative disc disease (DDD), lumbar spine degenerative disc disease (DDD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 23, 2024
- Citation
- A24068455
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 cervical and lumbar spine degenerative disc disease, left elbow sprain, right elbow enthesophyte, left knee strain and enthesophyte, right knee strain, and right leg radiculopathy but denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee strain, left hip strain, right hip arthritis, and lumbar spine degenerative disc disease as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected chronic iliotibial band syndrome of the left knee. The appeal was denied for service connection for right ear hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the issues of entitlement to earlier effective dates for RLE and LLE radiculopathy service connection awards, finding that the AOJ failed to reconsider these claims under 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c) after receipt of relevant official service department records. The Board remanded for a VA medical opinion to determine whether the radiculopathy onset occurred prior to September 15, 1999.
- Dismissed
The appeal for earlier effective dates and initial ratings for service-connected conditions was withdrawn by the Veteran, thus these claims are dismissed.
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