The Board has determined that the Veteran's service records are unavailable due to a fire at the National Personnel Records Center. The Board is remanding the claims for further development, including obtaining additional medical records and conducting VA examinations.
The deciding factor: The service records are unavailable due to a fire at the National Personnel Records Center, requiring further investigation into the Veteran's claimed disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Foot, Left Foot, Right Shoulder, Left Shoulder, Teeth and Jaw, Low Back, Residuals of Concussion or Traumatic Brain Injury, Sciatic Nerve Disability, Chronic Headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19161501
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,500 · Granted: 29% (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 19161501.
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 has dismissed the Veteran's appeals for increased ratings and earlier effective dates in several of his claims, including those related to TBI, left shoulder, lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis, posttraumatic migraine headaches, and TDIU. The issues have been remanded for further examination and evaluation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for chronic headaches is remanded due to the need for a new medical examination to assess the frequency and severity of his headaches, including without medication.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeal for service connection of a right shoulder disability. Service connection is granted for OSA, left ankle, lumbar spine, and right hip disabilities. The claims for an acquired psychiatric disorder and coronary artery disease are remanded.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for the Veteran's claimed right knee, left knee, right hip, left hip, right shoulder, and left shoulder conditions as there is no persuasive evidence that these conditions began during active service or are otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.
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