The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the failure to schedule necessary VA examinations as per a previous Board remand. The goal of these exams is to assess the functional impact of his service-connected disabilities on employment.
The deciding factor: The RO failed to comply with the September 2015 remand directives, which required scheduling additional VA examinations to assess the Veteran's functional impairment due to his service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- depressive disorder, left shoulder muscle injury, left shoulder musculoskeletal disability, right knee fracture and degenerative joint disease (DJD), left hand neuralgia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19103660
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.
- Granted
The Board granted a disability rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, characterized as depressive disorder, effective May 1, 2017.
- Partly granted
The Veteran is granted service connection for migraine headaches secondary to tinnitus, effective April 1, 2021. The claim for an earlier effective date for depressive disorder was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder to obtain a VA examination and etiological opinion.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for lumbar spine degenerative arthritis, left and right lower extremity radiculopathies, left and right hip pain, right knee degenerative arthritis, generalized anxiety disorder, and depressive disorder.
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