Shoulder decisions — 2015

The Board finds that the Veteran is not entitled to service connection for a bilateral shoulder disability or an inguinal hernia as there is no evidence of such conditions during service, and the medical evidence does not support a nexus between these conditions and service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain additional medical records and provide him with a new VA examination to assess his bilateral shoulder disorder and lumbar spine disability.

The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations and TDIU were granted, but the specific ratings assigned are not provided in this decision.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection of a right shoulder disability and granted service connection based on direct evidence linking his current condition to an in-service injury.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current right knee and left shoulder disabilities are not related to his active service, and thus denied both claims for service connection.

The Veteran meets the threshold requirements for TDIU due to a single service-connected disability rated at 40 percent or more and a combined rating of 70 percent or higher. The Board finds that the Veteran is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of his service-connected disabilities, including depression, left knee disability, low back disability, right knee disability, left shoulder disability, and left ankle and hemorrhoids.

The Board has granted service connection for posttraumatic lumbar spine residual degenerative joint disease, chronic sacroiliac and coccyx sprain, chronic posttraumatic residual left shoulder sprain and degenerative joint disease, posttraumatic right knee residual degenerative joint disease, posttraumatic left knee residual degenerative joint disease, and posttraumatic left ankle residual degenerative joint disease.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings were denied as his conditions did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under the applicable diagnostic codes.

The Board has remanded the case for further development and examination, including obtaining additional medical records and providing a new opinion from an examiner.

The Board has remanded the case due to outstanding VA and private treatment records, as well as a need for a medical nexus opinion regarding the Veteran's left shoulder disability.

The Veteran's claims for an initial increased rating for his service-connected left shoulder disability and service connection for a headache disorder are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling a VA examination.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's right shoulder disability is not related to his military service and therefore denied his claim for service connection.

The Board found that the Veteran did not have an additional right shoulder disability as a result of physical therapy at VA in October 2008, and therefore denied his claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's shoulder disabilities and attempting to obtain any workman's compensation records related to his shoulders.

The Veteran's service-connected conditions do not preclude him from securing or following substantially gainful employment.

The Veteran's claim for service connection on all of his listed conditions was denied due to failure to report for scheduled VA examinations and insufficient evidence to establish service connection.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for chronic right shoulder strain, chronic right knee strain and degenerative joint disease, chronic bilateral hip strain, and chronic lumbar spine strain with right L5 radiculitis strain on a secondary basis to his service-connected left foot disability.

The Board found that the Veteran did not timely file a notice of disagreement with the October 2002 rating decision, and thus the appeal is dismissed. The issues of entitlement to service connection for PTSD and left shoulder disability are addressed in the REMAND portion.

The Veteran's TDIU claim was granted with an effective date of February 17, 2007, but no earlier. The decision is based on the evidence showing that he had more than marginal employment until February 16, 2007.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's left shoulder tendonitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, cognitive and memory deficits, and muscle and joint pain are not related to his military service. The claims for these conditions have been denied.