The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need to first adjudicate his claim of whether there was clear and unmistakable error in a previous rating decision denying service connection for a left shoulder disorder. Once that issue is resolved, he will be given an opportunity to submit new evidence to reopen his claim for residuals of a left shoulder injury.
The deciding factor: The Board must defer consideration of the Veteran's petition to reopen his claim due to its inextricably intertwined nature with his challenge to the December 1983 rating decision that denied service connection for a left shoulder disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder injury
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19104111
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19104111.
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 Veteran's claims for service connection for left shoulder, left arm, and right knee disabilities have been granted due to new evidence presented. The cases are being remanded for further examination and rating.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was denied, and the Board found that no effective date prior to May 30, 2019 is warranted.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's request to recognize his December 17, 2008 correspondence as a timely and valid Notice of Disagreement (NOD) with the November 2008 rating decision. The underlying compensation claims will be addressed in a separate Board decision under the Legacy appeal system.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals seeking service connection for various conditions have been dismissed due to the withdrawal of his appeal by his authorized representative.
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