The Veteran's right shoulder and back disabilities are being remanded for further development due to inadequate examination reports.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not comply with the requirements in Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 26 (2017), which requires testing of active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing.
- Claimed conditions
- right shoulder degenerative arthritis and impingement syndrome, spondylosis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 20, 2020
- Citation
- 20067846
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 Board granted service connection for sciatic radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, effective April 2025.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date prior to October 20, 2009, for the award of service connection for various degenerative arthritis conditions and right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal is remanded to obtain opinions regarding whether the Veteran's left ankle ganglion cyst, spondylosis of the lumbar spine, knee strain, and acromioclavicular joint arthritis are caused or aggravated by his service-connected chronic musculoskeletal pain syndrome.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for a higher rating for spondylosis of the lumbar spine and an earlier effective date for PTSD have been dismissed as he has withdrawn his appeal.
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