The Board has remanded several issues including service connection for a left knee condition, depression, and the rating of right shoulder conditions. The Veteran's request to restore his 10% disability rating for right shoulder scars from April 1, 2015 to July 20, 2016 was upheld.
The deciding factor: The reduction in the disability rating for service-connected residuals scars of the left shoulder was proper as there were no medical records indicating that the right shoulder scars were still painful prior to issuing the RO's reduction rating in January 2015.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder, right shoulder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19109525
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,614 · Granted: 35% (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 19109525.
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 is granted an effective date of December 10, 2015 for total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) and basic eligibility to Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA). The decision also grants earlier effective dates for these benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for left knee, right knee, left wrist, right wrist, and right shoulder disabilities due to duty-to-assist errors and to address the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for automobile or adaptive equipment was denied as she does not have service-connected physical loss of use of her hands, permanent impairment of vision in both eyes, a severe burn injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or ankylosis of the knees or hips.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection for rhinitis, dizziness, leg muscle pain, asthma, cervical strain as secondary to a low back condition, and left shoulder due to the appellant's withdrawal of these appeals.
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