The Board remands the claims for a new VA examination to determine the current level of severity of the Veteran's disabilities.
The deciding factor: Remand is required due to an inadequate VA examination that did not include range of motion findings and because the RO did not reschedule the Veteran for a new examination after he had a cardiovascular accident or stroke.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative changes of the thoracolumbar spine, Right knee impairment with recurrent instability, Surgical residuals and osteoarthritis of the right knee, Status post chip fracture, degenerative changes, and surgical residuals of the right ankle (right ankle disability)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 25, 2025
- Citation
- A25054647
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (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 A25054647.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the August 2023 VA contract examiner's opinion is inadequate and remands the case for a new examination to address the Veteran's lay statements of onset during service and continuity of symptomatology.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative changes of the thoracolumbar spine and cervical spine disability, finding that these conditions began during active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional development is needed for the Veteran's claims, including obtaining medical records and scheduling examinations. The issues of rating cervical spine disability, thoracolumbar spine disability, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, skin disability due to chemical exposure, left hip disability, and TDIU are being remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his thoracolumbar spine disability was denied. The RO granted a 20 percent rating effective October 7, 2013.
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