The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings have been remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations. The decision on these issues will be reconsidered after further evaluation.
The deciding factor: Further examination is needed to determine the current severity of the Veteran’s conditions, including their relationship to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Foot Fungus, Acquired Psychiatric Disability (PTSD, Depressive Disorder), Left Shoulder Osteoarthritis, Degenerative Arthritis of the Left Knee, Degenerative Arthritis of the Right Knee, Right Hand Osteoarthritis, 5th MCP
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2020
- Citation
- 20066789
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,451 · Granted: 22% (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 20066789.
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 has determined that the Veteran's left shoulder disability is not a separate and distinct condition from his service-connected thoracotomy pain syndrome, thus denying a separate rating for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection and initial disability ratings for obstructive sleep apnea, degenerative arthritis of the left knee, and degenerative arthritis of the right knee to correct duty to assist errors.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for irritable bowel syndrome, bilateral foot fungus, and neck disability. It granted service connection for hiatal hernia as secondary to GERD and denied a higher rating for GERD.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's intervertebral disc syndrome, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, and bilateral knee degenerative arthritis, as well as left ankle strain.
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