The Board remanded the veteran's claims for a higher rating and TDIU due to missing records and intertwined issues.
The deciding factor: The Board must remand to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including obtaining relevant records.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative arthritis with intervertebral disc syndrome, degenerative disc disease other than intervertebral disc syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2025
- Citation
- A25001077
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 163 · Granted: 31% (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 A25001077.
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 decided to remand the Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative disc disease other than intervertebral disc syndrome, retrolisthesis, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy (claimed as back pain) due to incomplete STRs and SPRs. The AOJ is instructed to obtain these records and schedule a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's back condition.
- Granted
The Board has granted a rating of 40 percent for the Veteran's service-connected degenerative disc disease other than intervertebral disc syndrome; lumbosacral strain; sacroiliac weakness; sacroiliac joint osteoarthritis, effective from the date of the decision.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disability, finding that there is continuity of symptomatology from his in-service injury to his current diagnosis. The appeal was also reopened due to new and material evidence.
- Granted
The Veteran's back condition, including degenerative arthritis of the lumbar and thoracic spine as well as degenerative disc disease other than intervertebral disc syndrome, is granted. The right lower extremity radiculopathy and left lower extremity radiculopathy are also granted.
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