The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for his service-connected left shoulder degenerative changes, right shoulder degenerative changes, and left knee jumper's syndrome due to inadequate examinations and outstanding VA treatment records.
The deciding factor: The Board found that new examinations are necessary as the previous ones did not comply with the requirements in Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. (2017).
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder degenerative changes, right shoulder degenerative changes, left knee jumper's syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19191267
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,604 · Granted: 65% (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 19191267.
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 Veteran's claims for service connection for cervical spine degenerative changes, left shoulder degenerative changes, lumbar spine degenerative changes, and right shoulder osteoarthritis due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The Veteran was not afforded VA examinations for these conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial rating of 20 percent for left ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain and a higher rating of 40 percent for right shoulder degenerative changes, but remanded the claim for service connection for chronic sinusitis.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for lumbar spine degenerative disc disease, right shoulder degenerative changes, and sinusitis.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right shoulder degenerative changes, left shoulder degenerative changes, neck disability, right knee disability, left knee disability, and left hand arthritis as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by active military service.
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