The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee, lower back, upper back, and shoulder disabilities due to insufficient evidence. The Veteran is not presumed to have hepatitis C or an eye disability related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not provide sufficient rationale for their opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's current disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatitis C, vision problems (eye disability), left shoulder/rotator cuff disability (left shoulder disability), lower back disability, upper back disability, left knee strain with degenerative arthritis (left knee disability)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19106999
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hepatitis C, jaundice, hypogeusia, and hyposmia as there was no evidence of a current disability during the pendency of the claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied service connection for hepatitis C and remanded the claim for a heart disability due to insufficient evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for tinnitus, remanded claims for service connection for an upper back disability and headaches, and remanded the claim for a compensable rating for left recurrent corneal erosion syndrome.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for hepatitis C, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.