The veteran seeks a higher disability rating for his service-connected chronic multiple rheumatoid arthritis. The current 30 percent rating has been in effect since 1958 and cannot be reduced absent fraud. The RO is required to arrange for the veteran to undergo an examination by a rheumatologist to determine which joints, if any, have residual symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
The deciding factor: The current 30 percent rating has been in effect since 1958 and cannot be reduced absent fraud. The RO is required to arrange for the veteran to undergo an examination by a rheumatologist to determine which joints, if any, have residual symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic multiple rheumatoid arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 22, 2005
- Citation
- 0511492
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 0511492.
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.
- Denied
The Board has denied the veteran's claim for a disability rating greater than 30 percent for chronic multiple rheumatoid arthritis, finding no current residuals of rheumatoid arthritis that would provide a basis for an evaluation in excess of the currently assigned 30 percent evaluation.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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