The Board has decided that the Veteran's right hand, arm, and shoulder disabilities are not service-connected. The case is being sent back for further examination to determine if any of these disabilities were caused by a fault on the part of VA during a July 2008 surgical procedure.
The deciding factor: The examiner needs to provide an opinion regarding whether the Veteran's additional right upper extremity disability was due to carelessness, negligence, or lack of proper skill in providing the July 2008 surgical treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- Right hand disability, Arm disability, Shoulder disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20077424
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 20077424.
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 claim of entitlement to service connection for a right hand disability is dismissed.,The claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder based on a June 2020 claim is denied.,The claims of entitlement to service connection for bilateral ankle and foot disabilities are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors. The VA will obtain medical opinions regarding the relationship between the claimed conditions and service-connected bilateral hearing loss, as well as a TERA examination for frequent urination.
- Granted
The Veteran's hair loss and some other conditions are granted service connection, while the right hand disability is denied. The Veteran also has a new rating for his low back condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's eligibility for enrollment in the PCAFC is remanded due to inadequate reasoning and failure to discuss relevant evidence, including VA examination reports and medical opinions.
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