The Board remands the claims for further development and to correct pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors, including unassociated private treatment records and an inadequate VA examination report.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral back strain with residual myalgia, radiculopathy of the left lower extremity involving the sciatic nerve, radiculopathy of the right lower extremity involving the sciatic nerve
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 13, 2025
- Citation
- A25043027
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,451 · Granted: 22% (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 A25043027.
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 Board granted a temporary total evaluation for the service-connected lumbar spine disability requiring convalescence from July 20, 2018, to August 31, 2018. The Board also granted initial ratings of 20 percent for radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities involving the sciatic nerve until certain dates, denied higher ratings, and granted a 50 percent rating for the lumbar spine disability starting September 1, 2018.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a right knee disability and an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for herniated disc at L4-L5, as well as related radiculopathy claims, to obtain additional evidence.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for migraine headaches is granted. The Board finds that the evidence is in approximate balance as to whether current migraines are related to service, and thus grants service connection on a direct basis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for higher ratings for residual back injury and radiculopathy of the right lower extremity associated with residual back injury due to inadequate examination findings regarding lumbar spine motion and flare-ups.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.