The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical evidence and conflicting opinions regarding his claimed disabilities. The VA is instructed to obtain all relevant records, including SSA records, and provide additional medical opinions on the origin of his heart disabilities and obstructive sleep apnea.
The deciding factor: The decision was not made based on a presumption or secondary service connection theory; it was remanded for further clarification and evidence collection.
- Claimed conditions
- right hand degenerative arthritis, left hand degenerative arthritis, right shoulder disability, left shoulder disability, degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, right knee disability, left knee disability, heart disability (mitral valve prolapse), obstructive sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 21, 2021
- Citation
- 21023940
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 21023940.
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 Veteran's right shoulder disability and migraines/chronic headaches are remanded for additional development due to insufficient opinions on the etiology of her conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding that there is no competent evidence to support a finding that his current condition began in or as a result of service.
- Denied
The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as there is no current diagnosis of this condition during the appeal period.
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