The Board remands the claims for an increased rating of the lumbar disability and secondary service connection for a right lower extremity disability to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: A medical opinion is needed to address the progression of the Veteran's symptoms as he reported using over-the-counter medications and progressed to prescription medications and cortisone injections, and to determine if there is any currently diagnosed right lower extremity disability related to his service-connected lumbar disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine, with degenerative arthritis and strain, Right lower extremity disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2025
- Citation
- A25025882
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 claims for a higher rating for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and an earlier effective date for total disability based on individual unemployability.
- Denied
The Board denied an effective date prior to January 10, 2024, for the grant of service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for increased rating for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, both prior to and from December 2, 2019.
- Granted
The Board granted an initial disability rating of 40 percent for degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine.
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