The Board has determined that the Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development regarding his cervical spine disability, right knee instability, and right thumb disability.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not provide sufficient information to determine if service connection can be granted for these conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Thumb Disability, Thoracic Spine Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 15, 2020
- Citation
- 20078986
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 20078986.
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 a compensable evaluation for a right thumb disability and TDIU prior to October 13, 2016 have been dismissed due to the finality of previous decisions by the Board and the Court.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) from February 1, 2021 due to continued service-connected disabilities preventing him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for increased ratings of his acquired psychiatric, cervical spine, lumbar spine, right thumb, right index finger, and right long finger disabilities.
- Granted
The Board granted a 40 percent rating for the thoracic spine disability, effective June 24, 2024. The Veteran's disability is currently rated 20 percent under Codes 5010-5235 from June 1, 2008 (the date service connection was awarded) and 40 percent from 5235 from June 24, 2024.
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