The Veteran's wife testified about the Veteran experiencing falls and large knots on his abdomen since 2004, which led to VA treatment. The Board is remanded to obtain VA treatment records from 2004 to 2011 for a gastroenterologist in Albuquerque.
The deciding factor: The lack of relevant medical records prevents the Board from making a determination regarding the Veteran's earlier effective date claim.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a gunshot wound to the abdomen with retained foreign body
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- September 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19172073
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19172073.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claim for an earlier effective date for a 30 percent evaluation of the Veteran's service-connected gunshot wound to the abdomen with retained foreign body as it is considered a freestanding claim and not within its jurisdiction.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities are being reviewed to determine if they caused or contributed to his cause of death, which was terminal lymphoma. The Board has ordered a VA opinion on the etiology of the Veteran's cause of death.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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