The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to new evidence submitted since his original claim decisions. The claims are now pending and will be reviewed again with a focus on obtaining medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of the claimed disabilities.
The deciding factor: New evidence was submitted that relates to unestablished facts necessary to substantiate the Veteran's service connection claims for various disabilities, including lumbar spine, cervical spine, right shoulder, left shoulder, bilateral elbow, and bilateral knee disabilities. The Board has determined that additional medical opinions are needed to address these issues.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine, cervical spine, left shoulder, right shoulder, bilateral elbow, bilateral knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19194555
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,446 · Granted: 21% (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 19194555.
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 is granted an effective date of December 10, 2015 for total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) and basic eligibility to Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA). The decision also grants earlier effective dates for these benefits.
- Dismissed
The appeal has been dismissed as the appellant, through his authorized representative, requested to withdraw the appeal.
- Dismissed
The appeal for neck pain pinched nerve severe arthritis cervical spine is dismissed as a matter of law. Service connection and increased ratings are granted for major depression, mental disorder anxiety and PTSD, carpal tunnel syndrome (both wrists), and migraine including migraine variants.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for left knee, right knee, left wrist, right wrist, and right shoulder disabilities due to duty-to-assist errors and to address the ameliorative effects of medication.
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