The Veteran seeks compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for a right shoulder disability, which he claims was caused by VA treatment and medication side effects. The Board finds the current opinions insufficient to determine whether the additional disability was reasonably foreseeable and remands for further clarification.
The deciding factor: The Board is unable to render a medical opinion as it would be in violation of Colvin v. Derwinski, due to inconsistent findings in the VA examination and remaining evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- Right shoulder injury, Right rotator cuff tear
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19195626
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (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 19195626.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's right shoulder disability is currently rated at 20% under the old rating criteria. The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to obtain an updated VA examination and determine the current severity of the service-connected condition without considering any ameliorative effects of medication.
- Denied
The Veteran's right shoulder disability, specifically his right rotator cuff tear, is rated at 30 percent since December 2013. The Board found that the evidence does not show a limitation of motion to 25 degrees from side during any part of the appeal period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for right shoulder injury, lung condition/respiratory condition, and right side collarbone injury due to inadequate duty to assist errors. The cases are being returned for further development.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for the right shoulder injury, while remanding claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, chronic bronchitis with COPD, and GERD.
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