The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claims for service connection for right arm arthritis, left arm arthritis, and muscle pain. The Veteran's assertions regarding her conditions have been considered.
The deciding factor: New evidence includes an x-ray confirming osteoarthritis of the elbows, a VA examination noting left arm muscle weakness due to elbow disability, and a buddy statement describing difficulties with simple tasks due to painful muscle pain.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Arm Arthritis, Left Arm Arthritis, Muscle Pain
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19105201
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,797 · Granted: 20% (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 19105201.
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 has reopened the Veteran's claims for service connection due to new and material evidence. However, these claims are still pending as they require further development.
- Granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims and granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Depressive Disorder), a respiratory disorder, headaches, and muscle pain. The diagnoses are related to in-service stressors during the Gulf War.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's service connection claim for chronic fatigue, joint pain, and muscle pain. The examiner must address whether these symptoms are attributable to a diagnosed condition, its etiology, pathophysiology, and relationship to active service or other conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including joint pain, muscle pain, left shoulder condition, neck condition, bilateral foot condition, chronic fatigue syndrome, and respiratory condition are being remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations.,No current diagnoses have been established for these conditions.
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