The Board remands the claims for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, left hip strain, and radiculopathy/sciatica in the left and right lower extremities as secondary to metatarsalgia, bilateral feet due to a lack of medical evidence linking these conditions.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that new medical opinions are necessary to address whether the Veteran's current lumbar spine disorder, hip strain, and radiculopathy/sciatica were caused or aggravated by his service-connected foot disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, Left hip strain, Radiculopathy/sciatica left lower extremity, Radiculopathy/sciatica right lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 28, 2025
- Citation
- A25047458
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,886 · 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 A25047458.
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 Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was diagnosed during service and has continued since then. The Board granted service connection for this condition based on continuity of symptomatology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to inadequate examinations and the need for a retrospective opinion regarding the severity of his service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability, diagnosed as degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, is related to service and granted service connection for this condition.
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