The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for a back condition, to include as secondary to a service-connected disability, due to insufficient evidence and non-compliance with previous remand directives.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to inadequate medical opinions that did not address all required elements and ignored lay testimony regarding in-service trauma and post-service worsening of the condition.
- Claimed conditions
- back condition
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 21, 2025
- Citation
- 25006914
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 claim for service connection for a back condition, finding no evidence of a nexus between the in-service incident and the current disability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a back condition, finding that the evidence does not support a causal relationship between the Veteran's current back disability and his active-duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including a back condition, right and left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, neck condition, upper extremity radiculopathy, bilateral flatfoot, right foot plantar fasciitis, and right ankle pain, as the current evidence is inadequate to make a decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for back, left wrist, left and right knee, and left and right shoulder conditions due to missing personnel records and an inadequate VA medical opinion.
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