The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate VA examination and need for additional evaluations of the Veteran's right shoulder, lumbar spine, and cervical spine disabilities.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not address the Veteran’s range of motion or functional loss during flare-ups, which is required by law.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative changes in the right shoulder, Osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine, Osteoarthritis of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19176944
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 service-connected disabilities prevented him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to October 5, 2016.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's cervical spine disability, finding that there was no evidence of a neck injury or symptoms during service and insufficient continuity of symptomatology to establish service connection. The Board also found that the cervical spine disability is less likely than not caused by his service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his lumbar spine disability, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating under the applicable criteria.
- Granted
The Veteran's osteoarthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine were granted separate disability ratings, while his generalized osteoarthritis of the hands and elbow did not meet criteria for a higher rating.
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