The Board has remanded the case for further development due to inadequate medical opinions in a previous decision. The Veteran's disabilities are related to his military service, particularly his September 1965 motor vehicle accident.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s etiology opinions were found to be inadequate and insufficient to inform the Board of the basis for their opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Shoulder Impingement, Left Shoulder Impingement, Right Elbow Medial Tendinopathy, Bilateral Hand Distal Degenerative Joint Changes, Epicondylitis of the Right Elbow, Left Cubital Tunnel Syndrome, Impingement Syndrome of Both Shoulders, Bilateral Elbow Arthritis, Trigger Finger, Shoulder Strain and Rotator Cuff Tear, Cervical Radiculopathy, Peripheral Nerve Diagnoses
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 19, 2020
- Citation
- 20067504
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.
- Partly granted
The appeal was dismissed for the claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, and service connection for migraine headaches was restored. Several claims for service connection were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for PTSD, shoulder impingement, shoulder arthroscopic scars, painful scar of the right shoulder, and knee patellofemoral pain syndrome with chondromalacia and Baker's cyst. Service connection was also denied for bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issue of entitlement to a Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilities, as it is related to the reduction in ratings for right and left cubital tunnel syndromes. The Veteran's Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits are also under review.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's right shoulder impingement was rated as 20 percent from April 30, 2003, to August 7, 2005; 30 percent from August 8, 2005, to April 22, 2008; and 40 percent from April 23, 2008.
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