Shoulder decisions — 2006

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding no current diagnosed sinusitis or evidence of a service-connected condition. The RO granted service connection in April 2001 but did not address the issues on appeal.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a right shoulder disability attributable to service and therefore, denied his claim for service connection.

The Board has remanded the issue of whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim of service connection for a neck disability. The remaining issues have not been resolved, with some claims having been granted or increased.

The Board granted an initial rating of 20 percent for the veteran's service-connected left shoulder disability, including bursitis, effective April 13, 2006. The condition was manifested by pain on motion at 90 degrees flexion and 60 degrees abduction but not a limitation to 25 degrees from the side.

The veteran's service-connected right shoulder arthritis does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating. The left shoulder arthritis is rated at 10 percent due to painful motion requiring subacromial injections. The right knee arthritis has no limitation of motion and thus receives no compensation under DC 5010. The left knee, status post medial meniscus arthroscopy, does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating.

The Board has remanded the case for further development due to insufficient medical evidence to resolve the claims of service connection for right shoulder and right ankle disabilities.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that his bilateral hearing loss warranted a noncompensable evaluation. The other issues were not addressed due to pending appeals.

The Board denied service connection for the veteran's claimed disabilities, including a right knee disability, low back disability, tinnitus, and right shoulder disability. The decision also addressed other issues such as dental surgery residuals and left foot fungus.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased evaluations for his service-connected left knee arthralgia, coronary artery disease, hypertension, and right shoulder arthralgia. The evidence did not support a higher evaluation under any applicable diagnostic codes.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an increased rating for his right shoulder disability, finding that the evidence did not support a higher evaluation than the current 30 percent.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a current diagnosis of bilateral hearing loss or shoulder disorders, and therefore service connection for these conditions is denied.

The case is being remanded to the RO for scheduling a hearing and readjudication of the issues on appeal.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claimed conditions, including right knee arthritis, left knee arthritis, right shoulder arthritis, emphysema, and gastritis with gastroesophageal reflux disease, were not shown until decades after separation from service and are not medically linked to service. Therefore, these claims for service connection have been denied.

The Board has determined that there is no competent evidence of current disabilities for the claimed bilateral shoulder, wrist, knee, and ankle conditions. Therefore, service connection cannot be granted.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims of service connection for neck disorder, left wrist disorder, and right shoulder disorder are denied due to a lack of competent medical evidence linking these conditions to his military service.

The Board has remanded the case to arrange for a VA examination to determine the severity of the post-operative left shoulder scar and any other residuals from the in-service surgery. The veteran's arthritis is unclear, and the examiner should provide an opinion on whether it is attributable to the original in-service surgery.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that there was no evidence of current disabilities meeting the criteria for higher ratings or service connection.

The Board has determined that the appellant's right shoulder disorders, including degenerative disc disease, bursitis, rotator cuff syndrome, impingement syndrome, and mild subluxation, are aggravated by his service-connected left shoulder disability.

The veteran's service-connected lumbosacral strain has been granted a 20 percent evaluation, and his right shoulder disability is rated at 20 percent from June 29, 2004.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected disabilities, including diabetes mellitus, bursitis of the right shoulder, degenerative changes in the cervical spine, hearing loss of the left ear, pansinusitis, diverticulum of the esophagus and duodenum, and heel spurs of the right os calcis. The veteran was not shown to have been exposed to Agent Orange during service.