The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of entitlement to increased ratings for left wrist strain, right wrist strain, and thoracolumbar strain due to inadequate examination findings.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not fully comply with the requirements set forth in Correia v. McDonald (2016) and Sharp v. Shulkin (2017), specifically regarding range of motion testing on passive motion, non-weight-bearing conditions, and estimated pain during flare-ups.
- Claimed conditions
- left wrist strain, right wrist strain, thoracolumbar strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19118954
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,549 · Granted: 29% (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 19118954.
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 duty-to-assist errors and inadequate medical opinions. The issues of entitlement to TDIU are also being remanded as they are inextricably intertwined with the other claims.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings on multiple hand and wrist conditions has been dismissed as the Veteran requested withdrawal of the appeal.
- Granted
The Board has granted an effective date of August 14, 2024 for the award of a 40 percent rating for service-connected chronic compression fracture at T7 with lumbar spondylosis and thoracolumbar strain.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus and has remanded the remaining issues due to a duty-to-assist error.
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