The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for a lumbar spine disability due to errors in obtaining updated private treatment records and inadequate opinions regarding pertinent medical history. The AOJ must obtain these records and provide VA examinations to clarify the nature of the Veteran's current disability and address secondary service connection.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there were insufficient efforts made by the AOJ to obtain necessary private treatment records, which could impact the determination of the Veteran's current lumbar spine disability. Additionally, the opinions provided did not adequately consider the Veteran's history of back pain dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar Spine Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2024
- Citation
- A24069402
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 622 · Granted: 17% (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 A24069402.
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.
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- Denied
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- Remanded (sent back)
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- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating of PTSD was denied, as the evidence did not show occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity.,Service connection for a left shoulder disability and lumbar spine disability were also denied. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions had onset in service or were otherwise related to service.
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