The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient opinions provided by the VA examiners. The issues include bilateral shoulder disability, right hand joint pain, bilateral elbow and knee pain, cervical spine disability, renal cell carcinoma, neuropathy of lower extremities, osteoarthritis of left hand ring finger, hypertension, hiatal hernia with GERD, atopic dermatitis, migraine headaches, and bilateral condylar flattening indicative of degenerative joint disease of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).
The deciding factor: The VA examiners did not provide sufficient opinions regarding whether the Veteran's conditions are related to his active service or if they were aggravated by pre-existing conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- {"condition_name":"bilateral shoulder disability"}, {"condition_name":"right hand joint pain"}, {"condition_name":"bilateral elbow joint pain"}, {"condition_name":"right knee joint pain"}, {"condition_name":"cervical spine disability"}, {"condition_name":"renal cell carcinoma status-post partial nephrectomy"}, {"condition_name":"neuropathy, left lower extremity associated with calcaneal spurs, left foot"}, {"condition_name":"neuropathy, right lower extremity associated with calcaneal spurs, left foot"}, {"condition_name":"osteoarthritis, left hand ring finger"}, {"condition_name":"hypertension"}, {"condition_name":"hiatal hernia with gastroesophageal reflux (GERD)"}, {"condition_name":"atopic dermatitis"}, {"condition_name":"migraine headaches"}, {"condition_name":"bilateral condylar flattening indicative of degenerative joint disease of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ)"}
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19103738
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.
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- Granted
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