The Board remands the claims for further development to ensure that VA substantially complies with its duty to assist the Veteran.
The deciding factor: Further development is needed to obtain private medical records and address functional loss during flare-ups and after repeated use over time.
- Claimed conditions
- gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), left shoulder impingement syndrome, hypothyroidism, degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the lumbar spine, left lower extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 11, 2025
- Citation
- 25004959
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,036 · 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 25004959.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an initial disability rating in excess of 20 percent prior to March 2, 2017, and in excess of 40 percent thereafter for degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the lumbar spine. The evidence did not establish a nexus between current hearing loss or DJD of the lumbar spine and service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including right shoulder disability, abdominal hernia, GERD, bilateral ankle disabilities, and bilateral foot disabilities. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated during the appellant's period of active duty.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for sinusitis and remanded the Veteran's claims for chronic lower back pain, right knee pain, left knee pain, neck pain, and GERD.
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