The Veteran's service-connected disabilities related to his shoulders, cervical spine, and knee have not been rated appropriately. The Board has ordered remand for further examinations to determine the current severity of these conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not comply with the requirements in Sharp v. Shulkin and Correia v. McDonald, which require addressing additional functional loss during flare-ups and pain.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder strain, right shoulder strain, right hand tenosynovitis of the index and long fingers, cervical strain, degenerative arthritis of the spine, right knee strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19121969
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (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 19121969.
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 denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for right shoulder strain as there is no evidence of a chronic condition in service or within one year after discharge, and the medical opinion found that his current condition is not related to his military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee strain, right knee strain, shin splints of the right leg, and shin splints of the left leg are being remanded due to a failure to obtain VA examinations and medical nexus opinions.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions were granted effective from July 1, 2020.
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