The Board has determined that the case should be remanded for further development to determine if the Veteran has separate upper back and shoulder disabilities related to his service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion is needed to clarify whether the Veteran's current complaints of upper back and shoulder pain are part of a pre-existing cervical spine strain or represent separate disabilities that are related to his service.
- Claimed conditions
- Upper back disability, Shoulder disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 12, 2012
- Citation
- 1220433
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 1220433.
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 has determined that the Veteran's eligibility for enrollment in the PCAFC is remanded due to inadequate reasoning and failure to discuss relevant evidence, including VA examination reports and medical opinions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left knee degenerative joint disease status post left knee injury, sprain and remanded claims for shoulder disability and OSA.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 40 percent rating for TMJ disorder prior to March 23, 2020, and a 50 percent rating from that date forward. The decision also remanded issues related to secondary service connection.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for insomnia and remanded claims for further development.
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