The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding whether psoriatic arthritis is caused by or aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected Crohn’s disease.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide an adequate rationale for their opinion and additional information was needed, including a private medical opinion from Dr. R.B. and articles submitted by the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 6, 2020
- Citation
- 20000753
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, right hip degenerative joint disease and rheumatoid arthritis with acetabular cyst status post right total hip replacement, osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, hypertension, prostate cancer, diabetes mellitus type II, fever sores, and a compromised immune system, as the evidence did not support a finding of service connection for any of these conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for revision of an April 24, 1996, rating decision that denied service connection for psoriasis on the basis of clear and unmistakable error (CUE).
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a total disability rating due to individual unemployability (TDIU) and special monthly compensation based on housebound status from October 5, 2017.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error related to the failure to provide a VA toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) examination.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.