The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings due to incomplete development of records, including from private sources. The VA must obtain additional medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of all current left wrist and elbow disorders, as well as neurological disorders of the left upper extremity.
The deciding factor: Incomplete development of records, including from private sources, requires obtaining addendum opinions to address the nature and etiology of all current left wrist and elbow disorders, as well as neurological disorders of the left upper extremity.
- Claimed conditions
- left elbow disorder (epicondylitis), left wrist disorder, neurological disorder of the left upper extremity (carpal tunnel syndrome and cervical radiculopathy)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19179872
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a left wrist disorder to obtain an addendum opinion, as the previous opinions were based on inaccurate factual premises.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a left wrist disorder, resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for special monthly compensation (SMC) based on loss of use of his left wrist, as the evidence did not support a finding that he had no effective function in the hand other than what would be equally well served by an amputation stump at the site of election below the elbow with use of a suitable prosthetic appliance.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including inadequate VA examinations and failure to obtain etiological opinions.
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