The Board remands the claims for a rating in excess of 20 percent for degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine with herniated discs, and ratings in excess of 10 percent for left lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve, right knee tendinitis and patella femoral pain syndrome, as well as compensable ratings for right hip iliopsoas tendinitis with limitation of flexion, extension, and abduction.
The deciding factor: A remand is necessary to obtain an opinion addressing the functional impairment associated with the Veteran's service-connected disabilities without consideration of the beneficial effects of medication, and to obtain treatment records from a private physician.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine with herniated discs, Left lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve, Right knee tendinitis and patella femoral pain syndrome, Right hip iliopsoas tendinitis with limitation of flexion, Compensable rating for right hip iliopsoas tendinitis with limitation of extension, Compensable rating for right hip iliopsoas tendinitis with limitation of abduction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 20, 2025
- Citation
- A25045108
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (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 A25045108.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative arthritis and spinal stenosis with L3-L5 disc herniation (lumbar disability), left lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve, and right lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve. The Board found that these conditions are related to service.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected conditions do not meet the criteria for specially adapted housing or a special home adaptation grant due to lack of loss of use resulting from his disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board finds that remand is necessary to obtain relevant private medical records for the cervical spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve, right hip disability, and left hip disability.,The AOJ failed to undertake appropriate efforts to obtain these records prior to issuance of the December 24, 2019, or January 24, 2020, AOJ decisions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to inadequate medical opinions and duty-to-assist errors.
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