The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a left shoulder disability, secondary to his service-connected right shoulder disability. The decision resolves reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran’s left shoulder disability is related to overuse due to compensating for his service-connected right shoulder disability and resolved reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Shoulder Bicipital Tendon Tear, Left Shoulder Rotator Cuff Tear
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19179310
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,062 · Granted: 34% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19179310.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
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: Granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of his left shoulder rotator cuff tear is granted, with the effective date set at January 17, 2020.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there are duty to assist errors and the case is remanded for further development, including obtaining STRs from the Veteran's Reserve units and medical records from his private providers.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there was a duty to assist error and remanded the claims for further development. The Veteran's service connection claims for right and left shoulder rotator cuff tears are being returned to the AOJ for additional consideration.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's PTSD symptoms were found to have approximated total occupational and social impairment from June 15, 2020. The Board granted an earlier effective date of June 15, 2020 for a one hundred percent rating of PTSD. The claim of service connection for left shoulder disability is remanded due to the need for additional evidence.
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