The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a right shoulder disability and left arm disability, finding that there was no evidence of an in-service injury or disease related to these conditions. The Board also found insufficient evidence to support secondary service connection.
The deciding factor: Service connection could not be established as the claimed disabilities were not shown to have onset during active duty or within one year thereafter, and there was no medical opinion linking them to any service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Shoulder Rotator Cuff Tendonitis, Right Shoulder Rotator Cuff Tear, Right Acromioclavicular Joint Osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 18, 2020
- Citation
- 20054479
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 20054479.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for higher ratings on several conditions have been dismissed due to the Veteran withdrawing his appeals.,The Board has not assigned a specific rating or effective date as the claims are being remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for his right shoulder disability and scar was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on limitation of motion or other criteria.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal of a proposal to reduce the disability rating for right shoulder rotator cuff tear because it was not within the Board's jurisdiction to adjudicate such a non-final decision.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, GERD, shoulder, hand, and knee conditions, have rendered him unable to secure and maintain substantially gainful employment prior to September 26, 2025.
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