The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for further development and examination, including obtaining treatment records and conducting medical examinations to determine the severity of his renal disease and any arthritis diagnoses. The Veteran will be provided a new Supplemental Statement of the Case if benefits remain denied.
The deciding factor: The Board found that additional development is needed before the claims can be decided on their merits.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the elbows, arthritis of the wrists, arthritis of the hips, arthritis of the knees, arthritis of the shoulders, arthritis of the hands, arthritis of the fingers, arthritis of the spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19139023
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,776 · Granted: 24% (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 19139023.
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 Veteran's appeal was dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been presented to warrant readjudication of the claim for service connection for arthritis of the knees, elbows, and hands. The matter is being remanded for further consideration on a secondary basis due to the Veteran's assertions regarding his hips locking and falling into foxholes.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there was a pre-decisional duty to assist error in not associating the Veteran's service treatment records with the claims file, and therefore the Board is unable to decide the issues currently on appeal. The Board also finds that remand for development of a longitudinal exposure record (ILER) and a TERA opinion is necessary.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's eligibility for the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) is being remanded due to a lack of adequate explanation in the VA opinion regarding whether the Veteran requires personal care services based on the criteria listed in 38 U.S.C. § 1720G(a)(2)(C) and 38 C.F.R. § 71.20(a)(3).
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.