The claim of service connection for a right shoulder disability has been reopened, but the Veteran's increased rating claims for his service-connected disabilities remain pending and need to be remanded for further examination.
The deciding factor: New evidence received since the February 2005 denial supports reopening the claim. However, additional medical evaluation is needed to determine the current severity of the Veteran's right shoulder disability and other service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Shoulder Disability, Right Hip Bursitis, Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) of the Lumbar Spine, Left Lower Extremity Radiculopathy, Right Lower Extremity Radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19125668
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 70% rating for PTSD from November 25, 2015 to August 12, 2024 and a 40% rating for the right shoulder disability. It also granted 10% ratings for both feet and 20% ratings for knee patellofemoral pain syndromes.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, except for a 20 percent rating for lumbosacral strain.
- Remanded (sent back)
The character of the appellant's uncharacterized discharge is not a bar to the receipt of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits; to this extent only, the claim is granted.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including PTSD, IBS, cardiac arrhythmia, CFS, chronic headaches, chronic sinusitis, dyspnea, and fibromyalgia. The claim for bilateral pes planus was remanded.
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