The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a VA examination to assess the severity of the veteran's shell fragment wound residuals and any additional disability in his left shoulder and cervical spine regions.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the need for further medical evaluation to determine the extent of impairment due to the service-connected shell fragment wounds, particularly regarding limitation of motion and orthopedic conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- shell fragment wound to the back, shell fragment wound to the left posterior arm
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 22, 2006
- Citation
- 0639790
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
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 0639790.
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 initial compensable rating for a shell fragment wound to the back is granted at 20 percent, but no higher. Service connection for a spine disability other than residuals of the SFW to the back and for an acquired psychiatric disorder are denied. Service connection for basal cell carcinoma is also denied.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claims are mixed, with some issues granted and others denied. The low back disorder is granted on the merits, while other claims remain pending due to lack of new and material evidence.
- Granted
The Board granted increased ratings for the Veteran's service-connected shell fragment wound disabilities, assigning a 20% rating each for the left arm and back.,Both conditions were rated based on muscle group involvement rather than exposure to specific hazards like burn pits or Agent Orange.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient notification of VCAA requirements and for further development.
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