Shoulder decisions — 2025

The Board remands the claims for further development and to ensure compliance with VA's duty to assist.

The Board granted service connection for several conditions, including OSA, cervical spine condition, left shoulder condition, right shoulder condition, and others, but dismissed appeals for obesity, TMJ, insomnia, left elbow, and right elbow. The Board also denied an earlier effective date for a 70% rating for acquired psychiatric disorder.

The Board granted an earlier effective date of September 28, 2021, for the grant of service connection for left shoulder disability.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for left and right shoulder disabilities, left and right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and left knee disabilities to correct pre-decisional errors in the duty to assist.

The Board granted service connection for hypertension but denied service connection for cervical spine, right shoulder, low back, left hip, gastrointestinal, bronchitis, sinusitis disabilities and denied an initial rating in excess of 0 percent for headaches and thyroid disability.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims that five prior rating decisions were products of clear and unmistakable error. The Board found that the Veteran's arguments constituted disagreements with how the Agency of Original Jurisdiction weighed evidence in final prior decisions, which cannot rise to the level of valid CUE claims.

The Board dismissed the appeals for earlier effective dates related to various left and right hip, knee, shoulder, and other conditions as they were freestanding claims not continuously pursued from the initial rating decisions.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for a low back disability, right shoulder disability, and tension headaches due to inadequate medical opinions.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for a compensable rating for nephrolithiasis and service connection for vertigo, chronic fatigue syndrome, right shoulder osteoarthritis, and sleep apnea.

The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include a mood disorder and alcohol abuse disorder, secondary to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities. The other claims for increased ratings were denied.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including sleep apnea, knee and back issues, neck strain, shin splints, shoulder strain, sinusitis, rhinitis, GERD, penile condition, and bilateral flatfoot.

The Board denied service connection for the veteran's claimed conditions, including APD, respiratory insufficiency, RHL, and cervical and upper extremity radiculopathy, as well as a compensable rating for LHL. The claims were not granted.

The Board denied a rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD with TBI, granted separate ratings of 30 percent for BPPV and migraine headaches, and denied increased ratings for other conditions. Service connection was also denied for various disabilities.

The Board granted service connection for lumbar spine, left ankle, and GERD disabilities but denied higher ratings for the right shoulder and left knee disabilities.

The Board granted service connection for right shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis, vitamin D deficiency causing impairment in earning capacity, and hypertension based on the evidence being at least evenly balanced as to whether these conditions began during active duty service.

The Board granted service connection for right wrist bone marrow edema, right wrist bone spurs, and status post glenohumeral ligament tear repair of the right shoulder based on evidence showing a relationship to the Veteran's active military service.

The Veteran is granted a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability (TDIU) exclusively due to service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and special monthly compensation (SMC) based on housebound status from August 31, 2023.

The Board remands the issues of entitlement to higher ratings for the Veteran's right shoulder recurrent dislocation due to an inadequate examination report that did not adequately consider all of the Veteran's symptomology associated with his right shoulder dislocation, particularly his functional loss due to pain.

The Board granted service connection for left shoulder strain, right shoulder strain, early osteoarthritis of the left and right hips (secondary to a service-connected knee disability), and right and left ankle strains (secondary to a service-connected knee disability).

The Veteran's service-connected PTSD alone rendered him unable to secure or follow gainful employment from December 13, 2006, such that entitlement to a TDIU is warranted from that date.