The Veteran's appeal for reopening the claim of service connection for left long thoracic nerve palsy and Sjogren’s syndrome is granted. The Board finds new and material evidence has been received to reopen these claims, but remands them due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of the conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner failed to provide a clear opinion on whether the Veteran's left long thoracic nerve palsy was aggravated by his service-connected right thoracic outlet syndrome with right long thoracic nerve palsy and did not address the pertinent post-service treatment records. The Sjogren’s syndrome claim also lacks sufficient supporting medical evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- left long thoracic nerve palsy, Sjogren’s syndrome
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19184297
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 has remanded the case due to incomplete information regarding the Veteran's Sjogren’s syndrome and its relationship to his service-connected fibromyalgia. The VA must obtain additional medical opinions to clarify these issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further development and to obtain additional medical opinions regarding the Veteran's claimed conditions, specifically Sjogren’s syndrome and an undifferentiated connective tissue disorder.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied as there was no evidence of a nexus between the claimed conditions and active service.,No effective dates are granted as all claims predate May 3, 2016.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's Sjogren’s syndrome is remanded for further evaluation due to insufficient medical opinion regarding its relationship to her military service.
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