The Board remands the issues of increased disability ratings for various conditions due to a failure to substantially comply with previous directives.
The deciding factor: The RO failed to provide the Veteran a Supplemental Statement of the Case as required, necessitating a remand.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with persistent depressive disorder, Lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis, spondylosis, and intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), Right knee meniscus tear/repair and residual osteoarthritis, Right knee total arthroplasty, Left knee meniscus tear/repair and residual osteoarthritis, Left knee residuals of semilunar cartilage removal
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 21, 2025
- Citation
- 25006931
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 40 percent evaluation for sciatic nerve radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities, a 30 percent evaluation for femoral nerve radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities, and a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU), but denied an increased evaluation in excess of 40 percent for spinal stenosis and lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities from March 1, 2021, and an effective date of March 1, 2021, for eligibility for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) under 38 U.S.C. Chapter 35.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for scoliosis and found that the reduction in the combined disability rating for bulging discs in the lumbar spine, lumbosacral strain, degenerative arthritis of the spine, and spondylosis from 40 percent to 10 percent was proper.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the neck disability and right and left upper extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's already service-connected back disability.
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