The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for her bilateral wrist disabilities, finding that they are currently manifested by painful and limited motion without ankylosis. The case is remanded to obtain a new VA examination to assess the current severity of her right shoulder disability.
The deciding factor: The June 2014 VA examination did not comply with Correia criteria for assessing joint disabilities, specifically regarding range of motion testing on passive motion and in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing conditions. The Veteran's bilateral wrist disabilities are currently rated at the maximum schedular rating based on limitation of motion.
- Claimed conditions
- Tendonitis of the left wrist, Tendonitis of the right wrist
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19107806
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (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 19107806.
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 Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development, including obtaining updated VA and non-VA treatment records, arranging for orthopedic examinations to assess the severity of his service-connected lumbar spine and right wrist disabilities, and resolving discrepancies in previous examination findings.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected elbow and wrist disabilities have not met the criteria for a higher disability rating at any time during the appeal period.
- Granted
The Veteran's right wrist tendonitis is rated at 10 percent, and his degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine remains at a 10 percent rating. No higher ratings are granted.
- Granted
The Board has granted higher initial ratings for the Veteran's service-connected degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, tendonitis of the left wrist, and tendonitis of the right wrist. The current evaluations are consistent with the criteria set forth in the rating schedule.
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