The Board has remanded the case due to a need for a new VA examination to determine if the Veteran's left hand contractures are related to his service, including an in-service explosion and burns.
The deciding factor: The examiner will be asked to provide an opinion on whether the Veteran’s diagnosed conditions, including contractures, had onset in or are otherwise related to his active service.
- Claimed conditions
- left hand contractures, left hand dermatitis, left hand scar, residual of second-degree chemical burn
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19167330
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 961 · Granted: 20% (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 19167330.
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.
- Granted
The Board has restored a 30 percent rating for the Veteran's service-connected left hand dermatitis, finding that there was material improvement in his condition under ordinary conditions of life and work.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate compliance with prior remand directives regarding the etiology of left hand contractures. The Veteran's service treatment records, July 2017 hearing testimony, and other relevant medical opinions must be considered in determining whether his current condition is related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the cases for additional development, including obtaining updated VA treatment records and scheduling the Veteran for a VA examination to assess the current severity of his service-connected right ankle sprain, left ankle sprain with small spur, and left hand dermatitis.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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