The Board remands the claims for service connection for degenerative disc disease with herniated nucleus pulposus at L4-L5 lumbar disc, left lower extremity radiculopathy, neuropathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy, neuropathy to obtain adequate medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The remand is necessary due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors and inadequate medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's claimed conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease with herniated nucleus pulposus at L4-L5 lumbar disc, Left lower extremity radiculopathy, neuropathy, Right lower extremity radiculopathy, neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2025
- Citation
- A25025953
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 Veteran was granted an effective date of July 31, 2012, for TDIU and October 22, 2012, for service connection of left and right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted, while fibromyalgia, internal or external hemorrhoids, bilateral hearing loss, and neuropathy are denied.
- Denied
The appeal for higher ratings and effective dates for various conditions was denied, with the exception of left and right lower extremity radiculopathy which were granted an earlier effective date.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for various disabilities and granted earlier effective dates for service connection of scars, but denied an earlier effective date for individual unemployability.
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