The Board has determined that additional evidence is needed to fully and fairly consider the merits of the Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions, including arthritis of the elbows and wrists, poor vision, anal fistula, diabetes mellitus, and TDIU. The Veteran will need to undergo a VA examination to assess the current severity of his service-connected bilateral elbow and wrist conditions.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that additional evidence is needed as the Veteran's symptoms have worsened since his last VA examination, which may affect the determination of his service connection claims.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the knees, arthritis of the shoulders, arthritis of the left hip, poor vision, anal fistula, diabetes mellitus, arthritis of the left elbow, arthritis of the left wrist, arthritis of the right elbow, arthritis of the right wrist
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19104326
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 remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for right foot, left elbow, left hip, left ankle, and diabetes mellitus to obtain additional medical evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for cervical spine condition, diabetes mellitus, heart condition, lumbar spine condition, and urinary frequency and voiding condition as there was no evidence of a current diagnosis or in-service incurrence or aggravation.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded the claims for sinus disability, bilateral hip disability, right shoulder disability, hypertension, sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus, skin disability, back disability, bilateral neurological disability of the upper extremities, and bilateral neurological disability of the lower extremities.
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