The Veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for service-connected DJD of the right and left shoulders are remanded due to insufficient examination findings. The claim for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for service-connected DJD of the bilateral shoulders from July 3, 1997 to June 30, 2015 is also remanded.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's findings do not fully satisfy the requirements set forth by Correia v. McDonald and Sharp v. Shulkin for assessing joint testing for pain on both active and passive motion, as well as in weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the bilateral shoulders
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19108102
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,810 · Granted: 23% (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 19108102.
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 DJD of the bilateral shoulders is granted service connection. The Veteran's DJD of the lumbar spine is granted a rating of 20 percent as of July 3, 2014.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain additional medical records and provide him with a new VA examination to assess his bilateral shoulder disorder and lumbar spine disability.
- Denied
The Board found no evidence of a chronic shoulder disorder in service or continuity of symptoms thereafter, and there is no competent medical evidence linking the current DJD to service. Therefore, service connection for DJD of the bilateral shoulders was denied.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a current disability of DJD of the shoulders incurred or aggravated during active duty, inactive duty training, or reserve duty. The claim is denied.
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