The Board remands the issue of service connection for intervertebral disc syndrome with degenerative arthritis and acute cervical strain post motor vehicle accident without residuals due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is warranted due to the failure to associate records of treatment covered by the VA and obtain an adequate medical opinion that considers all relevant evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- intervertebral disc syndrome with degenerative arthritis, acute cervical strain post motor vehicle accident without residuals
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 31, 2025
- Citation
- A25094741
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (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 A25094741.
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 claim for service connection for intervertebral disc syndrome with degenerative arthritis, finding that there was no increase in severity of his pre-existing back strain during active service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation since June 12, 2023.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were denied. The Board found no evidence linking the current left hip disability to service, and the low back disability was rated at 10 percent due to its degenerative nature.
- Denied
The Veteran's initial claim for an increased rating for intervertebral disc syndrome with degenerative arthritis was denied, and the effective date of service connection remains February 15, 2016.,Initial ratings of 40 percent were granted for left lower extremity radiculopathy with peripheral neuropathy and right lower extremity radiculopathy with peripheral neuropathy. The effective dates remain February 15, 2016.
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