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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0423945.
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 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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