The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to conflicting medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of his right shoulder conditions. The Board requests a VA examination to clarify these issues.
The deciding factor: There are conflicting diagnoses and opinions regarding whether any current right shoulder conditions are related to service or other disabilities, necessitating further evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- disc bulging, shoulder impingement, degenerative changes in the right acromioclavicular joint, right rotator cuff tear, supraspinatus tendonitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19173518
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 19173518.
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 Veteran's right shoulder disability is granted service connection, but his diabetes mellitus is denied as there is no evidence of herbicide agent exposure during service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals for an earlier effective date for service-connected tinnitus and entitlement to service connection for a right rotator cuff tear, resulting in the dismissal of these issues.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various claimed disabilities, including right and left knee replacements, ankle sprains, neck strain, lumbosacral strain, rotator cuff tear, shoulder dislocation, and sleep apnea, as the evidence did not support a finding of a nexus between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for an adequate VA examination and a retrospective opinion on his right shoulder disability prior to February 2020.
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