The Board has granted the veteran's claim for service connection for headaches, but has remanded his claims for service connection of low back, shoulder and upper back/neck injuries due to lack of definitive medical nexus opinions.
The deciding factor: Definitive medical nexus opinions are needed to establish a relationship between current diagnoses and service-connected conditions or incidents in service.
- Claimed conditions
- Residuals of low back injury, Residuals of bilateral shoulder injury, Residuals of upper back/neck injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 30, 2003
- Citation
- 0329753
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 0329753.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's surviving spouse was granted special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular aid and attendance of another person due to his service-connected Parkinson's Disease.
- Denied
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for low back disability and post-traumatic stress disorder, finding that these conditions were related to service. Other claims remain pending.
- Denied
The Board found that the veteran's current low back and right shoulder conditions are not related to his service, thus denying his claims for service connection.
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