The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for heart disability, cervical spine disability, right and left upper extremity neurological disabilities, bilateral shoulder and hand disabilities, and bilateral hip disability due to inextricably intertwined issues. The VA must obtain addendum opinions from the February 2021 VA examiner regarding the Veteran's service connection claim for a heart disability and a medical opinion on whether his current hip disability is secondary to his service-connected thoracolumbar spine condition.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the issues are inextricably intertwined, requiring additional development of evidence before final adjudication can be made.
- Claimed conditions
- Heart disability, Cervical spine disability, Right upper extremity neurological disability, Left upper extremity neurological disability, Right shoulder disability, Left shoulder disability, Right hand disability, Left hand disability, Bilateral hip disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 6, 2021
- Citation
- 21062169
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,272 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 21062169.
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 cervical spine disability is rated at 20 percent, the maximum rating available under the General Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine. The evidence does not support a higher rating as his range of motion did not meet the criteria for an increased rating.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a heart disability, finding that the Veteran's current heart diagnoses are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and bilateral hip disability, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU claim for bilateral knee disabilities and his right and left knee scars have been granted. He is now rated at a combined 60% disability rating from June 1, 2018 based on bilateral factors for his bilateral knee disabilities.
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