The Board remands the claims for service connection for lumbosacral strain, left lower lumbar condition, right lower lumbar condition, and left hand fracture dislocation left proximal 5th phalanx at MCP joint s/p reduction with degenerative arthritis to obtain additional medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The May 2025 medical opinions are inadequate for purposes of determining service connection as they rely on the absence of treatment records establishing diagnoses and do not address secondary service connection theories.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain, left lower lumbar condition, right lower lumbar condition, left hand fracture dislocation left proximal 5th phalanx at MCP joint s/p reduction with degenerative arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2025
- Citation
- A25088699
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 696 · Granted: 63% (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 A25088699.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for lumbosacral strain, asthma, melasma and hydradenitis, hypertension, an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression, anxiety, and stress), left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, left knee disorder, a left foot disorder, and IBS have been granted. The remaining issues are remanded.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew their appeal for service connection of a lumbosacral strain, resulting in the dismissal of this issue.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis, finding that it is related to his in-service injury. The claimant did not contest this decision.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, including degenerative arthritis and IVDS. The decision is based on the Veteran's in-service injury during active duty and his continuous symptoms since then.
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