The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative arthritis of spine and cervical strain due to insufficient medical opinion regarding direct, secondary, or aggravation causation.
The deciding factor: The January 2020 VA opinion is inadequate as it does not address theories of entitlement such as direct service connection, secondary service connection, or aggravation by a service-connected condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of spine, Cervical strain (neck disability)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 25, 2026
- Citation
- A26016836
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 A26016836.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an evaluation in excess of 40 percent for service-connected degenerative arthritis of spine with intervertebral disc syndrome status post right L5-S1 microdiscectomy associated with left knee chronic strain and post operative anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and medial meniscus repair was denied as his symptoms are not severe enough to warrant a higher rating.
- Denied
The Board denied initial ratings in excess of 30 percent for generalized anxiety disorder, and in excess of 20 percent for a lumbosacral strain (back disability) and cervical strain (neck disability), as well as separate ratings for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy. A rating of 30 percent was granted for the neck disability starting from May 22, 2022.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for TMJ dysfunction with arthritis, cervical strain (neck disability), lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome with arthritis, right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, tension headaches, and left thigh impairment. However, a 20 percent rating was granted for left lower radiculopathy involving the sciatic nerve.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for acute left ankle sprain, finding that there was no evidence of an in-service injury or a causal relationship between the current disability and any in-service event. The claims for cervical strain and left shoulder strain were remanded for further development.
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