The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for service connection of a left shoulder disability, as it is inadequate due to the lack of consideration of all evidence and updated VA treatment records. The examiner must provide an opinion regarding whether the Veteran’s left shoulder disability is related to his in-service duties or if it was aggravated by his service-connected lumbosacral spine disability.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the previous examination opinions were inadequate as they did not consider all of the evidence, including the Veteran's lay statements and updated VA treatment records. The examiner must provide an opinion regarding whether the left shoulder disability is related to in-service duties or if it was aggravated by his service-connected lumbosacral spine disability.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20004763
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,456 · Granted: 23% (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 20004763.
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 denied service connection for residuals of gallbladder removal and remanded the other claims due to insufficient evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that remand is needed for the Veteran's claims due to duty to assist errors, including clarification of periods of service and obtaining relevant records. The Veteran will be afforded new medical examinations for each claimed disability.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed due to a procedural defect in filing the claims on the correct form.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, anxiety disorder, back disability, left shoulder disability, right shoulder disability, and right knee disability. The claim for service connection for residuals of a concussion is remanded.
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