The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the lack of records from his lumbar spine surgery at a non-VA community care provider, which may have resulted in substandard care. The VA must obtain and associate these records with the claims file.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to provide all necessary pre-surgical treatment records, informed consent forms, and post-surgical care records from the non-VA community care provider during the decision-making process.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disorder, bilateral lower extremity neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 6, 2024
- Citation
- A24072697
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,242 · Granted: 27% (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 A24072697.
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 has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various hip and lower extremity disorders, including as secondary to a lumbar spine disorder. The case is being returned to the AOJ for further action.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to errors in obtaining relevant medical records and authorization for private treatment providers. The issues include heart disorder, OSA, sinusitis, lumbar spine disorder, and right knee disorder all related to Agent Orange exposure.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diabetes mellitus type II, and bilateral lower extremity neuropathy. The Veteran's cause of death due to these conditions is also recognized.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's request to readjudicate his claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disorder and obstructive sleep apnea, but denied his claim for right knee disorder. The Board also remanded the cases of left leg disorder and lumbar spine disorder.
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