The Board has dismissed the claim for service connection for right-forearm disorder and denied the other claims. The Court has vacated those decisions and remanded the claims to the Board for action consistent with a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR). The JMR states that the Board did not provide an adequate statement of reasons or bases for dismissing the forearm claim, and it also indicates errors in denying service connection for thoracolumbar spine, right knee, left and right-hand/thumb, and migraine headache disorders. The Veteran's failure to report for scheduled examinations without stating good cause is noted.
The deciding factor: The Board did not provide an adequate statement of reasons or bases for dismissing the claim for service connection for right-forearm disorder and denied other claims due to errors in the decision-making process.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracolumbar-spine disorder, right-knee disorder, right-hand/thumb disorder, left-hand/thumb disorder, right-forearm disorder, migraine headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 11, 2021
- Citation
- 21008133
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 21008133.
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 has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for additional development due to incomplete medical records and insufficient opinions regarding the relationship between service, including a stick injury in England, and current left eye disability (including amblyopia and cataracts) as well as migraine headaches.
- Granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches are productive of very frequent, completely prostrating and prolonged attacks capable of producing severe economic inadaptability. The Board has granted a 50 percent disability rating for the Veteran's service-connected migraine headaches.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his service-connected migraine headaches was granted with an effective date of February 28, 2023.
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