The Board remands the claims for increased ratings and TDIU due to insufficient evidence regarding the severity of the Veteran's service-connected conditions during flare-ups and employment history.
The deciding factor: The opinions provided by the examiners did not fully comply with the Board's previous instructions, necessitating a new opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar strain, right knee chondromalacia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 28, 2025
- Citation
- 25014341
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,329 · Granted: 31% (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 25014341.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for earlier effective dates and compensable ratings for left knee tendonitis and right knee chondromalacia have been dismissed as he withdrew his appeal in January 2025.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for right hand arthritis and left hand arthritis have been dismissed.,The Veteran's appeals for a higher rating for lumbar strain, radiculopathy of the left sciatic nerve, and radiculopathy of the right sciatic nerve have been remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for lumbar strain and lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome with left sciatica. The right lower extremity sciatica claim is remanded due to a duty-to-assist error.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's back disability, diagnosed as lumbar strain, spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine, is causally related to service. As such, service connection for this condition is granted.
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