The Veteran's claim for service connection for congenital cataracts has been denied as the evidence does not show that his condition was aggravated by active duty service.,The Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (to include PTSD and an anxiety disorder) have been remanded due to insufficient examination findings. The examiner must consider all psychiatric diagnoses during the appeal period and provide a rationale for their opinion.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a left shoulder condition has been remanded as the VA examination was inadequate. An addendum is required, considering whether the condition is directly related to active duty service or aggravated by his service-connected right shoulder condition or degenerative disc disease.
The deciding factor: Insufficient evidence provided in the most recent examinations for a clear determination of service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Congenital Cataracts, Acquired Psychiatric Disorder (to include PTSD and an Anxiety Disorder), Left Shoulder Condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20004424
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,874 · Granted: 33% (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 20004424.
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 the Veteran's claim for service connection for a left shoulder condition, finding that there was no evidence of an in-service injury or disease and insufficient medical evidence to establish a nexus between any current disability and service.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for traumatic brain injury, left shoulder condition, and lower back pain as there is no persuasive evidence of a current disability or in-service event that would support these claims.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current left shoulder condition is not related to his service, and thus denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection regarding his right shoulder condition, left shoulder condition, and neck condition should be remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The claims will now be adjudicated with appropriate medical examinations.
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