The Veteran's claims for service connection and reopening of previously denied claims are being remanded due to the need to obtain additional medical records, including SSA disability records and treatment records from Rodriguez Hospital and Damas Hospital in Puerto Rico. The Veteran will also be provided a notice letter explaining what evidence is needed to substantiate his claims.
The deciding factor: The Board needs to ensure all relevant medical records are obtained before making a determination on the Veteran's service connection and reopening claims.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of both legs, chronic bronchitis with asthma, laryngitis, nasopharygitis with residual grippe
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2009
- Citation
- 0939880
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 0939880.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic bronchitis with asthma and denied a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for the left shoulder disability.
- Denied
The Veteran's lumbar strain with degenerative joint disease was rated at 20 percent prior to July 9, 2021 and at 40 percent thereafter. The right ankle condition was rated at 10 percent prior to October 3, 2017 and at 30 percent from March 1, 2018. The Veteran's chronic bronchitis with asthma was rated at 10 percent prior to July 9, 2021 and at 30 percent from July 9, 2021 to January 30, 2022.,The Board denied the claims for increased disability ratings as the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher ratings under the applicable rating criteria.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for lumbar strain with degenerative joint disease, right ankle condition, and chronic bronchitis with asthma are being remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations.
- Granted
The Board has granted the appellant's request to reopen her claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death. The evidence shows that the Veteran's service-connected chronic bronchitis with asthma contributed substantially or materially to his death, and the Board finds this link sufficient to grant service connection.
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