The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence and a need for further examination. The issues include psychiatric conditions, arthritis, head injury residuals, neck condition, and bone spurs.
The deciding factor: The VA is unable to obtain sufficient service records to make an informed decision on the claims without additional development.
- Claimed conditions
- substance induced mood disorder, cannabis and cocaine abuse and alcohol dependence, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, arthritis (rheumatoid), residuals of a head injury, chronic neck condition, bone spurs left heel, bone spurs right heel
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2021
- Citation
- 21001664
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 21001664.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to ensure a proper examination and etiology opinion are provided.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including back pain, knee and wrist joint pains, neck pain, anxiety, depression, as further development is needed to properly adjudicate these claims.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for generalized anxiety disorder and denied service connection for a lower back disorder. The claims for depression, substance abuse disorder, and a compensable initial rating for bilateral hearing loss were dismissed.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
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