The Board remands the claim for a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for DDD of the lumbar spine prior to April 12, 2022, due to insufficient evidence regarding the severity of the condition without medication and missing private treatment records.
The deciding factor: Insufficient evidence was available to determine the severity of the Veteran's back condition without the ameliorative effects of his medications, necessitating a remand for further clarification.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25043111
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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