The Board remands the issues of an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for lumbar strain with degenerative arthritis and an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for degenerative disc disease, cervical spine prior to December 10, 2014, due to a failure by the VA examiner to provide a retrospective opinion that complies with the Board's remand instructions.
The deciding factor: The July 2023 VA examiner failed to provide a retrospective opinion as instructed in the May 2023 remand and thus failed to comply fully with said instructions, necessitating a remand for a new medical opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative disc disease, cervical spine, lumbar strain with degenerative arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 8, 2025
- Citation
- 25014622
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,549 · Granted: 26% (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 25014622.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's current degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine is determined to be a result of his military service, and he is granted entitlement to service connection for this condition.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine as secondary to his service-connected spinal fusion is dismissed due to a withdrawal request.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the claims for service connection for lumbar strain with degenerative arthritis, left lower extremity sciatica, and right lower extremity sciatica must be remanded due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors.
- Granted
The Board granted a 40 percent disability rating for the Veteran's lumbar spine disability since September 26, 2024.
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