The Board remands the claim for a higher rating for the Veteran's degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine to schedule a new examination.
The deciding factor: The current evidence does not adequately address the impact of medication on the severity and duration of the Veteran's symptoms, necessitating a new examination.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25042082
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,893 · 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 A25042082.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the issue of entitlement to a Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) was not before it in its August 2024 decision. The case is now remanded for further adjudication.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's lumbar and cervical spine disabilities, but granted a 40 percent rating for right upper extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the inadequacy of the May 2017 VA examination and the need for a new examination to assess the current severity of her service-connected cervical and lumbar spine disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's GERD is granted an initial rating of 30 percent.,The Veteran's DJD of the lumbar spine is granted a rating of 20 percent, effective November 30, 2020.,The Veteran's left shoulder disability is denied any increase in rating beyond 10 percent.,The Veteran's hypothyroidism is denied any increase in rating.
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