The appeal for a higher rating for lumbar spine degenerative disc disease and arthritis is remanded due to the unavailability of the original Veterans Law Judge and lack of response from the Veteran regarding additional evidence.
The deciding factor: Remand required due to the need for Agency of Original Jurisdiction review of new evidence without initial waiver by the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine degenerative disc disease and arthritis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 24, 2025
- Citation
- 25014282
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 918 · Granted: 32% (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 25014282.
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 Veteran's claims for effective dates prior to June 7, 2016, and increased ratings were denied. Service connection was not granted due to lack of evidence linking the disabilities to service or a service-connected condition. Increased ratings for lumbar spine degenerative disc disease and arthritis were also denied.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's lower back disability, diagnosed as lumbosacral strain and lumbar spine degenerative disc disease and arthritis, finding that it is related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for cervical and lumbar spine degenerative disc disease and arthritis, finding that he did not have active service during a period of war. The veteran is also denied basic eligibility for nonservice-connected pension benefits.
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