The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for right wrist, left hip, and left abdomen (claimed as groin injury) conditions due to a recent Federal Circuit decision that pain alone can qualify as a disability. The case is now remanded for further examination to assess functional impairment.
The deciding factor: The Federal Circuit in Saunders v. Wilkie found that pain alone without an accompanying diagnosis of a present disease can qualify as a disability, but the Veteran must show that her pain reaches the level of a functional impairment of earning capacity.
- Claimed conditions
- Right wrist condition, Left hip condition, Left abdomen (claimed as groin injury)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19124566
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 317 · Granted: 19% (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 19124566.
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 Veteran's claim for a higher rating for right knee degenerative arthritis based on limitation of motion was denied. A separate 20 percent rating for a right knee meniscus tear is granted. The claims for service connection for left hip condition and right foot gout are dismissed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for back and left hip conditions due to inadequate opinions regarding secondary service connection.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for both the right and left wrist conditions, finding that there is sufficient evidence to support the Veteran's claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development to determine the nature and etiology of his right thigh condition, as well as service connection for hip conditions.
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