The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's lower back disability, including its onset during service and any relationship to military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not adequately address the Veteran's statements about his pre-service back pain and the opinion was based primarily on the absence of complaints in STRs.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis, Degenerative disc disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2024
- Citation
- A24085828
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 A24085828.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a neck injury, including degenerative arthritis, IVDS, spinal stenosis, and history of spinal fusion, based on the evidence showing chronicity since service.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of February 25, 2025 for the award of service connection for degenerative disc disease thoracolumbar spine with degenerative arthritis, spinal stenosis, and levoscoliosis.
- Denied
The appeal for an increased rating for left hip, the claims for entitlement to an earlier effective date and an increased rating for right knee strain, and the appeal for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for left shoulder strain were dismissed. The claim for a 40 percent rating from June 24, 2021 for degenerative disc disease was granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a lumbar spine disability as secondary to a cervical spine disability due to an inadequate medical opinion.
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