The veteran's claims for increased rating and service connection are being remanded due to the need for further examination and development of his medical records.
The deciding factor: Further evidence is needed to determine the current severity of the veteran's right thumb disability, as well as the etiology of his claimed carpal tunnel syndrome, lateral epicondylitis, and ulnar nerve decompression.
- Claimed conditions
- post-operative residuals of a right thumb fracture with degenerative joint disease, right carpal tunnel syndrome, lateral epicondylitis, status post-ulnar nerve decompression of the right arm
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 13, 2006
- Citation
- 0604088
Veterans Law Judge
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0604088.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeal as it found that the benefits originally sought have been granted in full, and thus there is no longer a specific error of fact or law to address.
- Granted
The Veteran's left and right carpal tunnel syndrome have been granted increased ratings to 20% and 30%, respectively, effective from the date of the decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the claims for service connection for hypertension, left carpal tunnel syndrome, right carpal tunnel syndrome, and a left foot condition must be remanded due to inadequate medical opinions. The claim for an effective date of February 25, 2024 for bipolar disorder is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU claim is being remanded due to a failure to obtain relevant VA medical records from the San Juan VA Medical Center. The Veteran meets the schedular threshold for TDIU based on his service-connected disabilities and combined rating of 70 percent.
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