The Board has determined that a VA examination is necessary to determine if the Veteran's current back and shoulder disorders are related to his military service. The appeal will be remanded for this purpose.
The deciding factor: The STRs are unavailable, but the medical records indicate possible associations between the Veteran's service activities and his current disabilities. A VA examiner must provide an opinion as to whether there is a relationship between the Veteran's service and his current back and shoulder disorders.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disorder, Bilateral shoulder disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 6, 2012
- Citation
- 1200393
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 1200393.
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 claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a low back disorder. The claims for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, bilateral knee disorder, and an acquired psychiatric disorder are remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a low back disorder, finding that the evidence did not show an in-service onset or relationship to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for low back disorder and bilateral knee disorders due to duty to assist errors prior to the rating decision on appeal. The Veteran is not prejudiced as a remand is necessary to correct these errors.
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