The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for various disabilities, including bilateral hand, shoulder, elbow, knee, and ankle conditions. The Veteran is to be provided with VA examinations to determine if his current disabilities are related to his period of active service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that reasonable attempts should be made to obtain the Veteran's private treatment records and a VA examination is needed to assess the relationship between his current disabilities and his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hand disability, bilateral shoulder disability, bilateral elbow disability, residuals of an injury to the ring finger, left hand, neck disability, bilateral knee disability, right ankle disability, left ankle disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2018
- Citation
- 18147600
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 18147600.
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 expanded the scope of the claim to include any mental health disorder raised by the record and has remanded for additional development regarding service connection for left leg, ankle, and psychiatric disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a bilateral shoulder disability and increased ratings for her bilateral knee disabilities, finding no evidence of in-service injury or disease related to these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for a neurological examination to determine if any diagnosed radiculopathy or other neurological disability affecting the lower extremities was caused or aggravated by service-connected conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claim for service connection of a neck disability due to pre-decisional error in not obtaining a VA examination and medical opinion.
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