The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral shoulder and knee disabilities due to outstanding federal government health records and insufficient development on exposure to ionizing radiation.
The deciding factor: Further development is required as there are outstanding federal government health records and insufficient development conducted on the type of injuries sustained during the Veteran’s involvement in a U.S. Air Force medical study, including potential exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Shoulder Disability, Bilateral Knee Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2020
- Citation
- 20001339
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,506 · Granted: 43% (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 20001339.
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 determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD and bilateral knee disability must be remanded due to duty-to-assist errors. The Veteran's reported stressors need to be verified, and a VA examination is required to address the etiology of his bilateral knee condition.
- Dismissed
The appeal for the right hip condition is dismissed as it has been withdrawn. The claims of low back disability, bilateral knee disability, BLE radiculopathy, and left shoulder condition are denied due to lack of new and relevant evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right shoulder, lumbar spine, bilateral knee, and bilateral ankle disabilities due to a lack of credible evidence linking these conditions to service or any presumptive exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.