The Board has remanded several service connection claims for a bilateral elbow disability, knee disability, hand disability, liver disability, weight gain, carcinoma of the abdominal cavity status post-surgical removal, kidney disability, and psoriasis. The remand is due to incomplete STRs and inadequate VA opinions regarding the onset and etiology of these conditions.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's service treatment records were not available for review, which led to inadequate VA opinions in previous decisions. Therefore, additional development is needed to obtain new medical opinions considering the Veteran's specific assertions about his environmental exposures during service and his complete medical history.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral elbow disability, bilateral knee disability, bilateral hand disability, liver disability, disability manifested by weight gain, carcinoma of the abdominal cavity status post-surgical removal, kidney disability, psoriasis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 9, 2018
- Citation
- 18149551
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 18149551.
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.
- 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 Veteran's appeal for service connection for heart attack, kidney stones, polycythemia vera, diabetes mellitus type 2, and psoriasis is remanded due to inadequate VA opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for kidney disability and urinary incontinence with hematuria. The remaining issues of service connection for psychiatric disability, migraine headaches, and macrocytic anemia are remanded for further consideration.
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