The Board denied an initial compensable rating for the lumbar surgical scar and remanded the increased rating claim for a lumbar spine disability, citing insufficient evidence to determine the current severity of the Veteran's lumbar spine disability.
The deciding factor: The February 2024 VA examination report indicated that the Veteran uses medication, Tylenol, to treat his back symptoms, but it is unclear whether the examiner considered the severity of the Veteran's service-connected disability discounting any ameliorative effects of medication. The Board found a remand was necessary to reconcile these findings and determine the current severity of the Veteran's lumbar spine disability while also discounting the ameliorative effects of treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar surgical scar, Lumbar L5-S1 disc herniation, status post right microdiscectomy and foraminotomy with degenerative disc disease (DDD)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 2, 2025
- Citation
- A25085079
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,044 · Granted: 21% (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 A25085079.
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
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