The Board denied the appeal for an earlier effective date for award of service connection for lumbar spine disability, which was affirmed by a Court Order. The case is remanded to address a CUE claim in the June 1981 rating decision.
The deciding factor: The evidence submitted after November 7, 2019, did not establish clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in the June 1981 rating decision, thus an earlier effective date is not warranted.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral sprain, spinal stenosis with degenerative arthritis
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 20, 2025
- Citation
- A25090432
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,902 · Granted: 11% (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 A25090432.
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 found that the Veteran's lumbosacral sprain may be service connected, but the left knee disability is remanded for further development due to a duty-to-assist error.
- Dismissed
The appeal of the proposed reduction in the Veteran's rating for a lumbosacral sprain is dismissed as it was not a final adjudicative decision.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial 30 percent rating for spinal stenosis with degenerative arthritis and headaches as secondary to the service-connected cervical spine disability, but denied higher ratings for the cervical spine and upper extremity radiculopathies.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for lumbosacral sprain, while remanding the claims for left hip strain, right hip strain, left knee instability, right knee instability, and tachycardia.
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