The appeal is remanded to the RO for further development and readjudication of the Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 due to additional disability following surgical treatment at a VA facility.
The deciding factor: Additional medical opinion is needed regarding whether the Veteran's post-operative right wrist conditions represent a 'qualifying additional disability' and, if so, whether such disability was caused by carelessness, negligence, or an unforeseeable event.
- Claimed conditions
- reflex sympathetic dystrophy, scapholunate dissociation, chondrolysis of the mid carpal and radiocarpal joint, extensor lag on the right and small fingers, status post severe synovitis of the wrist
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2009
- Citation
- 0910517
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a respiratory disorder, rib disorder, fibromyalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, and psoriasis due to an inadequate medical opinion.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for all the claimed conditions as there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between any of these disabilities and the Veteran's active duty service.
- Partly granted
The Board has reopened the claims for service connection for rib disorder, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, fibromyalgia, respiratory disorder, skin condition, to include psoriasis, bilateral hand arthritis, bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, and bilateral ulnar neuropathy. However, the claims for service connection for bilateral hand arthritis, bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, bilateral ulnar neuropathy, hypertension, rib disorder, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, fibromyalgia, respiratory disorder, and skin condition, to include psoriasis, have been denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a lack of informed consent documentation for cryotherapy procedures performed on the Veteran's finger, which may have led to additional disability.
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