The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for arthritis of the left elbow, right elbow, left thumb, right thumb, cervical spine, and lumbar spine as well as seasonal allergic rhinitis due to potential CBRNE exposure during service. The Veteran will be provided with VA examinations to evaluate his claimed disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the previous opinions were inadequate for rating purposes and ordered further development including obtaining service treatment records and personnel records, verifying exposure to CBRNE agents in service, and scheduling VA examinations for the Veteran's claimed conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of the cervical spine, Arthritis of the left elbow, Arthritis of the left thumb, Arthritis of the lumbar spine, Arthritis of the right elbow, Arthritis of the right thumb, Seasonal allergic rhinitis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19109626
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,911 · Granted: 10% (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 19109626.
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 has determined that the Veteran's arthritis of the lumbar spine was not shown as chronic in service and did not manifest to a compensable degree within the applicable presumptive period. Continuity of symptomatology is not established, and the disability is not otherwise etiologically related to an in-service injury or disease.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for arthritis of the lumbar spine was denied as her disability did not meet the criteria for a higher evaluation under VA's rating schedule.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for arthritis of the lumbar spine, right ankle, left ankle, and left foot on a presumptive basis due to continuous symptoms since service separation.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for right ear hearing loss was dismissed as untimely. The claim of a higher rating for his lumbar spine disability was denied, and the Veteran was granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.
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