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
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.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the petitions to reopen claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and a right wrist condition due to the withdrawal of the appeals by the Veteran's attorney.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include alcohol use disorder, unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, and PTSD was granted. Other claims for various conditions were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for vertigo, secondary to tinnitus and a compensable rating for the cesarean section scar. The claims for service connection for left ankle condition, right ankle status post achilles tendon repair, right shoulder condition, left shoulder condition, osteoarthritis of both hips, right wrist condition, and left wrist condition were remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claims for other specified depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder, alcohol use disorder, left hip condition, left knee condition, left lower extremity radiculopathy, left upper extremity radiculopathy, right hip condition, right knee condition, right lower extremity radiculopathy, right upper extremity radiculopathy, shin splints, left leg, shin splints, right leg, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) for further development.
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