The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims due to inadequate examinations and the need for updated treatment records. The Veteran is seeking higher ratings for his right forearm disabilities, including a shrapnel injury, a painful scar, and a scar.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations were deemed inadequate and new evidence was needed to determine the nature and severity of the Veteran's disabilities and their etiology.
- Claimed conditions
- Right forearm shrapnel injury, Painful scar of the right forearm, Right forearm scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19178623
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,772 · Granted: 37% (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 19178623.
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 from June 24, 2010 to June 14, 2016 precluded him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development to determine the severity of the Veteran's restless leg syndrome and to obtain a sleep study. The right forearm scar remains rated at 10 percent, but the rating for restless leg syndrome is being remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a TDIU from January 1, 2021 onward due to his service-connected disabilities. However, the TDIU claim for the period March 19, 2012 to November 24, 2019 is denied as he had substantially gainful employment during this time.
- Granted
The Veteran's right forearm scar is granted a 10% disability rating effective December 4, 2017.,Service connection for left ear hearing loss and tinnitus are both granted. The service connection for type II diabetes mellitus as secondary to herbicide-agent exposure is also granted.,A compensable disability rating for the right forearm scar prior to December 4, 2017, is denied.
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