The Board denied earlier effective dates for service connection and DEA eligibility, and remanded claims for TDIU, SMC based on housebound status, and lumbar disability.
The deciding factor: The evidence of record does not support an earlier effective date due to the statutory requirements for such awards. The Veteran's claims are being remanded for further development and consideration by the AOJ.
- Claimed conditions
- Depressive disorder, not otherwise specified, with unspecified anxiety disorder, Lumbar disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 17, 2025
- Citation
- A25053131
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 705 · Granted: 38% (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 A25053131.
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 granted earlier effective dates for the award of increased ratings for a lumbar disability and lower extremity radiculopathies, effective August 4, 2022.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for an initial disability rating in excess of 50 percent for generalized anxiety disorder and service connection for a lumbar disability to correct an error by the AOJ.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for a lumbar disability, and service connection for left ankle and right knee disabilities to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Partly granted
The Board granted restoration of the prior 20 percent rating for a lumbar disability, which was decreased to 10 percent effective August 16, 2023. The issues of entitlement to service connection for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy were remanded.
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