The Board has determined that the VA examinations for the Veteran's right wrist, cervical spine, lumbar spine, left shoulder, and right shoulder disabilities are inadequate. Additionally, a remand is necessary to obtain an addendum opinion regarding the service connection of depression. The claims for service connection for these conditions are being remanded.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not adequately assess the current severity of the Veteran's right wrist disability and failed to consider the Veteran’s reported history of symptoms since service for his cervical spine, lumbar spine, left shoulder, right shoulder, and migraine headaches disabilities. The claim for service connection for depression is also remanded as it may be related to the Veteran's shoulders, cervical spine, and migraine headaches.
- Claimed conditions
- right wrist tenosynovitis, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, left shoulder disability, right shoulder disability, migraine headaches, depression
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19111621
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,776 · 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 19111621.
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 right shoulder disability and migraines/chronic headaches are remanded for additional development due to insufficient opinions on the etiology of her conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining in-service psychiatric treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
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