The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for an addendum VA medical opinion regarding whether his current psychiatric diagnoses are caused by or aggravated by his service-connected left shoulder dislocation.
The deciding factor: The previous VA examination did not address whether the Veteran's mental health diagnoses were secondary to his service-connected left shoulder dislocation, as requested in the May 2017 remand directives.
- Claimed conditions
- mental illness
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 27, 2017
- Citation
- 1754013
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 1754013.
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 remanded the case due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, and will need to obtain an addendum opinion from an examiner of appropriate expertise to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed acquired psychiatric condition.
- Dismissed
The claim for revision of a February 2013 rating decision based on CUE is dismissed as the rating decision is not final. The May 2014 rating decision that continued the previous denial of service connection for a mental illness, on the basis of CUE, is remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an acquired psychiatric condition to correct a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error, requiring a VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to his failure to report to a scheduled VA examination and the unique circumstances of his case, including chronic homelessness.
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