The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various joint and muscle pain conditions due to an undiagnosed illness, as they are related to his military service in the Southwest Asia theater.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of a diagnosed condition or partially explained etiology for the Veteran’s claimed conditions. The Board has determined that further examination is necessary to determine if any current pain and symptoms are due to a known clinical diagnosis, an undiagnosed illness, or medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness.
- Claimed conditions
- back pain, bilateral foot pain, bilateral heel pain, toe pain, bilateral ankle pain, bilateral knee pain, hip pain, bilateral shoulder pain, bilateral elbow pain, bilateral wrist pain, bilateral hand pain, finger pain, muscle spasms, sleep disturbance, fatigue
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 28, 2019
- Citation
- 19140842
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 19140842.
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 Board has determined that the AOJ did not obtain all necessary opinions regarding whether the Veteran's symptoms are related to an undiagnosed illness or medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness (MUCMI). The claims for service connection for fatigue, fibromyalgia, left elbow disorder, right elbow disorder, and sleep disorder are remanded for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for cervical spine degenerative arthritis. The claims for back pain and right upper extremity radiculopathy are remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations.
- Partly granted
The claims for service connection for hypertension, back pain, right hip pain, left hip pain, right knee pain, and left knee pain have been readjudicated. The claim for sleep apnea has also been readjudicated.,Service connection has been granted for a neck condition, back pain, right hip pain, left hip pain, right knee pain, left knee pain, an acquired psychiatric disorder, bruxism, and vertigo.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for back pain and neck pain, finding no current disability. The claim for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is remanded due to inadequate consideration of all potential exposures.,The claim for an acquired psychiatric disability (PTSD) is also remanded due to a lack of development of the Veteran's therapist's records.
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