The Board remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings due to inadequate examinations and missing records.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the VA examiner relied on an absence of contemporaneous medical records, which is inadequate for adjudicative purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- neck disability, lumbar spine intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) with degenerative arthritis, left lower extremity (LLE) sciatic nerve radiculopathy, right lower extremity (RLE) sciatic nerve radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2025
- Citation
- A25003560
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (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 A25003560.
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 claim for service connection of a neck disability due to pre-decisional error in not obtaining a VA examination and medical opinion.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection of sleep apnea, left lower extremity (LLE) sciatic nerve radiculopathy, and right ear hearing loss due to untimely filing.,The Board also dismissed the appeal for service connection of left ear hearing loss as moot because it was already granted in a prior decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for neck and back disabilities due to a lack of medical evidence supporting the Veteran's assertions. The VA will obtain an examination and provide an opinion on whether these disabilities are related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for left leg shin splints, right leg shin splints, back disability, and neck disability due to insufficient evidence in the record regarding these conditions.
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