The Veteran's appeal regarding the effective date earlier than March 29, 2014 for the grant of service connection for a right shoulder disability is dismissed. The claim for service connection for a sleep disorder (claimed as sleep disturbance) is also dismissed. The appeals for increased ratings for left knee and right shoulder disabilities are remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew her appeal regarding the effective date earlier than March 29, 2014 for the grant of service connection for a right shoulder disability in August 2018. The Board found that there is no further error of fact or law at issue as sleep impairment/insomnia/disturbance are considered symptoms of her already service-connected major depressive disorder with unspecified anxiety disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Shoulder Disability, Left Knee Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20055516
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 20055516.
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 Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities are rated at 10% each, and the Board finds that higher ratings are not warranted based on the evidence of record.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities are not related to his active service, and thus denied both claims for service connection.
- Denied
The Veteran's left knee disability is currently rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds no evidence of clear and unmistakable error in assigning an effective date of June 19, 2002.
- Remanded (sent back)
The claims for service connection for right and left shoulder disabilities are remanded. The claim for sleep disorder (claimed as sleep apnea) remains denied.
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