The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for back, neck, and left elbow disabilities due to insufficient evidence. The Veteran's adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood is currently rated at 30 percent.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran’s symptoms did not meet criteria for a higher rating as his impairment was not severe enough to interfere with occupational and social functioning or require continuous medication.
- Claimed conditions
- Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety and Depressed Mood, Back Disability, Neck Disability, Left Elbow Disability, Respiratory Disability (Multilobar Pneumonia), Scar, Status-post Gynecomastia Surgery
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 6, 2020
- Citation
- 20000601
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,569 · Granted: 26% (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 20000601.
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 Board has granted service connection for Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Neck Disability, and Bilateral Upper Extremity Radiculopathy. The decision is based on the Veteran's active service and medical evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disability, characterized as PTSD and alcohol use disorder, is now rated at 70 percent. The rating will be effective from the date of the April 2023 VA decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA rating decision denying service connection for a right knee disability and a back disability is not supported by adequate medical opinions, and thus remands the case for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection of a left knee disability, back disability, and left elbow disability must be remanded due to inadequate VA examinations. The Veteran provided lay reports of symptoms but the VA examiners did not consider these reports in their conclusions.
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