The Board remanded the veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and right shoulder due to inadequate VA examinations.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the AOJ failed to obtain adequate VA examinations and opinions, constituting a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative disc disease (DDD), lumbar spine, right shoulder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2025
- Citation
- A25003652
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (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 A25003652.
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 remanded the claims for left knee, right knee, left wrist, right wrist, and right shoulder disabilities due to duty-to-assist errors and to address the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for automobile or adaptive equipment was denied as she does not have service-connected physical loss of use of her hands, permanent impairment of vision in both eyes, a severe burn injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or ankylosis of the knees or hips.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for higher disability ratings and service connection were withdrawn, and the appeal concerning a deferred evaluation for left ear hearing loss was dismissed due to a claims-processing error.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew their appeals, leading to the dismissal of all issues on appeal.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.