The Veteran's right shoulder disability is rated at 40 percent, but no higher, effective from March 26, 2015. The left shoulder disability remains rated at 30 percent.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support a rating in excess of 40 percent for the right shoulder disability due to lack of findings indicating limitation of motion to 25 degrees from side.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) with impingement syndrome and rotator cuff tear of the right shoulder, Bursitis of the left shoulder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2020
- Citation
- 20081961
Veterans Law Judge
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 20081961.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The veteran's bursitis of the left and right shoulders are currently rated at 10 percent each, while his lumbosacral strain is rated at 20 percent. The claims for increased evaluations have been granted.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for various hand and shoulder disabilities, finding no medical evidence linking these conditions to her military service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board finds that an increased evaluation for the veteran's left arm contusion with bursitis of the left shoulder and probable rotator cuff tear is not warranted, as his current manifestations do not meet the criteria for a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 5201.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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