The Board has determined that the VA examinations provided in connection with these claims were inadequate for adjudication purposes as they did not provide a complete rationale for their opinions, did not consider the Veteran's lay statements and heavily relied on the absence of contemporaneous medical evidence to support negative nexus opinions.,Therefore, the Board finds that remand is necessary so that the RO can obtain new medical opinions addressing whether the Veteran’s disabilities are directly related to his service or otherwise proximately due to or aggravated by his service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations provided in connection with these claims were inadequate for adjudication purposes as they did not provide a complete rationale for their opinions, did not consider the Veteran's lay statements and heavily relied on the absence of contemporaneous medical evidence to support negative nexus opinions.,Therefore, remand is necessary so that the RO can obtain new medical opinions addressing whether the Veteran’s disabilities are directly related to his service or otherwise proximately due to or aggravated by his service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Shoulder Disability, Left Knee Disability, Sleep Disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 25, 2021
- Citation
- 21010657
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 21010657.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities are rated at 10% each, and the Board finds that higher ratings are not warranted based on the evidence of record.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities are not related to his active service, and thus denied both claims for service connection.
- Denied
The Veteran's left knee disability is currently rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds no evidence of clear and unmistakable error in assigning an effective date of June 19, 2002.
- Remanded (sent back)
The claims for service connection for right and left shoulder disabilities are remanded. The claim for sleep disorder (claimed as sleep apnea) remains denied.
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