Original research

The Exam Problem: Why Board Appeals for the Top 10 Disabilities Get Remanded

For the ten most common service-connected disabilities, a large share of Board appeals are not granted or denied, they are REMANDED, sent back for more development, most often because the Board wants a new C&P examination or medical opinion before it can rule. Here is how often, and what the Board says was missing.

How this research is built: remand SHARE below refreshes weekly from the live published record. The reason breakdown (why the Board ordered a remand, and what defect it named when it ruled an exam or opinion inadequate) comes from a full-text classification of the Board's own language across the corpus, rebuilt periodically as the classifier improves, most recently October 2026 (remand reasons) and October 2026 (exam adequacy).

Updated October 2026

Remand share, top reason, and top exam defect, by condition

Remand share is remanded issues divided by all issues decided for that condition. The reason and defect columns show the single most common tag among tagged remands and ruled-inadequate decisions, respectively:

#	Condition	Remand share	Top reason for remand	Top exam defect
#1	Tinnitus DC 6260	23.3%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (76.2%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (29.4%)
#2	Limitation of flexion, knee DC 5260	52.1%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (79.9%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (27.3%)
#3	Paralysis of the sciatic nerve DC 8520	42%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (78.2%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (25.9%)
#4	Lumbosacral or cervical strain DC 5237	54.1%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (75.6%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (27.7%)
#5	Posttraumatic stress disorder DC 9411	37.7%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (69.2%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (22.6%)
#6	Hearing loss DC 6100	32%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (73.2%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (24.9%)
#7	Limitation of motion of the arm DC 5201	53.2%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (79.6%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (29.8%)
#8	Scars, burns (2nd degree) DC 7805	29.5%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (70.1%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (22.8%)
#9	Migraine DC 8100	39.9%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (78.6%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (30%)
#10	Limitation of motion of the ankle DC 5271	35.7%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (79.8%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (26.2%)

Reading this: Lumbosacral or cervical strain remands most often (54.1% of issues). A remand is not a loss, it means the Board needs more evidence before it can decide, but it also means months or years of additional wait. These describe patterns in published decisions, not a prediction for any individual appeal.

A closer look at the three highest-remand conditions

Lumbosacral or cervical strain DC 5237 · 54.1% remanded

Why the Board remanded (of 96,283 tagged remands)

Medical opinion or addendum ordered75.6%

New VA examination ordered62%

VA treatment records to obtain17.8%

Private treatment records to obtain17.1%

Service records to obtain16.5%

When ruled inadequate, the defect named (of 25,015 decisions)

Failed to address a contention or part of the condition27.7%

Conclusion given without a supporting rationale21.5%

Veteran's lay statements not considered19.1%

Limitation of motion of the arm DC 5201 · 53.2% remanded

Why the Board remanded (of 23,337 tagged remands)

Medical opinion or addendum ordered79.6%

New VA examination ordered64.1%

VA treatment records to obtain19.7%

Service records to obtain18%

Private treatment records to obtain17.4%

When ruled inadequate, the defect named (of 7,214 decisions)

Failed to address a contention or part of the condition29.8%

Conclusion given without a supporting rationale22.6%

Veteran's lay statements not considered20.8%

Limitation of flexion, knee DC 5260 · 52.1% remanded

Why the Board remanded (of 63,041 tagged remands)

Medical opinion or addendum ordered79.9%

New VA examination ordered66%

VA treatment records to obtain20%

Private treatment records to obtain17.5%

Service records to obtain16.4%

When ruled inadequate, the defect named (of 18,907 decisions)

Failed to address a contention or part of the condition27.3%

Conclusion given without a supporting rationale21.3%

Veteran's lay statements not considered18.3%

Methodology

Remand share is issue-level: remanded issues divided by all issues decided for that condition, refreshed weekly. Remand-reason tags (new exam, medical opinion, records to obtain, etc.) are mined from the Board's remand-instruction language and are multi-tag, so a single remand's reasons can sum to more than 100%; requires at least 25 tagged remands per condition. Exam-inadequacy defects are mined from sentences where the Board itself, not a party's argument, rules an examination or opinion inadequate, classified into the reason named; requires at least 20 ruled decisions per condition. Both classifiers are rebuilt periodically as the underlying corpus and classification improve, not on the weekly cycle the remand-share numbers use.

Cite this research

RateMyVSO. (October 2026). The Exam Problem: Remand Rates and Reasons for the Ten Most Common Service-Connected Disabilities at the Board of Veterans' Appeals. https://ratemyvso.net/dc/exam-problem-report

Free to cite and link with attribution. Figures derived from published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions.

Educational and encyclopedic only, not legal advice, and not a prediction of any individual appeal. For help with a claim, find a VA-accredited representative.