The Board has ordered a VA medical opinion to address the relationship between the veteran's service-connected left shoulder disorder and his death, as well as any contribution of that condition to his death.
The deciding factor: The VA physician will provide an opinion regarding whether it is at least as likely as not that the veteran's service-connected left shoulder disorder was the immediate or underlying cause of his death, or contributed substantially or materially to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder gunshot wound residuals, pleural thickening
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 27, 2004
- Citation
- 0423945
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0423945.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted an initial 60 percent disability rating for pleural thickening, effective May 17, 2018.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension was granted, but the claim for COPD was denied. The issue of a compensable rating for pleural thickening was remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's shortness of breath with pleurisy and pleural thickening is related to multiple bouts of pneumonia during his service, which resulted in a current disability. The Board granted service connection for these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for right lung nodules, left lung nodules, pleural thickening, and pulmonary fibrosis due to pre-decisional failures of duty to assist in obtaining missing service treatment records and inadequate examinations. The VA is required to undertake additional efforts to obtain these records and prepare a TERA memorandum addressing the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents (Agent Orange) and asbestos in service.
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