The Veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain inpatient service treatment records, provide the Veteran with VA medical examinations and opinions, and obtain relevant outstanding post-service treatment records.
The deciding factor: The claims file does not contain all necessary inpatient service treatment records, which may be relevant to the Veteran's claim. Additionally, a VA examination is needed to clarify whether his current diagnoses are related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, Left shoulder condition, Left collarbone condition, Right foot condition, Bilateral big toe condition, Right ankle condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 19, 2016
- Citation
- 1615722
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 1615722.
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 decided to remand the Veteran's claims for cervical spine condition and left shoulder condition due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as VA failed to provide the Veteran with VA examinations and medical opinions to assess the nature and etiology of his conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's right foot condition, including pain and functional limitation, is related to service. The Veteran's right leg disability did not have an onset in service or manifest within a year of service, nor is it otherwise related to service or a service-connected disability. The Veteran's left leg disability also did not have an onset in service or manifest within a year of service, nor is it otherwise related to service or a service-connected disability.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD has prevented him from securing and maintaining gainful employment throughout the appeal period, leading to a grant of TDIU. The issue of service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome was withdrawn by the appellant.
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