The Board has ordered remand for the right shoulder and right hip claims due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the severity of the Veteran's conditions. The Veteran will need a VA examination to determine the current severity of his right shoulder DJD, including whether any existing guarding constitutes a separate manifestation from limitation of motion. For the right hip claim, an examination is needed to test active and passive motion with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the medical opinions provided were insufficient to determine the current severity of the Veteran's conditions, particularly regarding the right shoulder DJD and right hip limitation of flexion, adduction, and abduction. Therefore, additional examinations are required to provide a clear understanding of the extent of these disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- right shoulder degenerative joint disease (DJD), right hip limitation of flexion, adduction, and abduction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19108109
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,071 · Granted: 26% (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 19108109.
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 remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient rationale in the June 2019 VA opinions. The AOJ is instructed to obtain an addendum opinion from a qualified individual to address whether the Veteran's left and right shoulder, and bilateral elbow conditions are related to his military service, specifically including exposure to hazardous materials while serving in the Southwest Asia theater of operations.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for hypertension and tinnitus, but denied service connection for a left wrist condition, chronic fatigue syndrome, dry mouth, and a skin condition. Several claims were remanded for further development.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding that it is at least as likely as not related to the Veteran's service-connected right shoulder and right ankle conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding right shoulder DJD during flare-ups, requiring a new examination.
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