The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development regarding his right wrist and lumbar spine disabilities, as well as his claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability prior to July 16, 2019.,His service-connected right wrist disability has been rated at 10 percent since June 1, 2013. The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development regarding whether he should be granted a higher rating.
The deciding factor: Further development is required to determine the appropriate ratings and eligibility for benefits related to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- right wrist chondromalacia, right wrist triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) tear, degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20068783
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,757 · Granted: 23% (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 20068783.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine and left knee traumatic arthritis have been dismissed as he withdrew his appeal prior to a scheduled hearing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, PTSD, and degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine, finding that it was incurred during active duty.
- Granted
Service connection for a lumbar spine disability currently diagnosed as degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine, lumbar spondylosis, and degeneration of lumbar intervertebral disc is granted.,Service connection for fibromyalgia is granted. Effective October 30, 2015, a rating of 50 percent, but no higher, for tension headaches is granted.,Effective October 30, 2015, the effective date for service connection for TMJ (claimed as right jaw) is set at July 13, 2004. A TDIU is also granted.
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