The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional medical opinions regarding his respiratory disorder and TDIU claim. The service connection issue remains pending.
The deciding factor: The decision requires further clarification on the etiology of the Veteran’s respiratory disorder, specifically whether it is related to burn pit exposure while in Afghanistan, and the TDIU claim must be reconsidered due to a recent NOD for depression and low back ratings.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Shoulder Disability, Respiratory Disorder (asbestosis/bronchospasms)
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19133775
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,217 · Granted: 46% (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 19133775.
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 claims for service connection for right and left shoulder disabilities are remanded. The claim for sleep disorder (claimed as sleep apnea) remains denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right and left shoulder disabilities, finding insufficient evidence to establish an in-service event or injury related to his shoulders. The Veteran's current shoulder conditions are not linked to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's right shoulder disability, low back condition, bilateral knee disabilities, and left shoulder strain have been granted service connection. The Veteran's low back condition has been increased to a 40 percent evaluation, while the bilateral knee conditions remain at their current 10 percent evaluations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to the need for a VA examination to determine if the Veteran's right shoulder disability is related to his service-connected TMJ.
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