The Board has decided that the Veteran's claim for service connection for rheumatoid arthritis is remanded due to inadequate medical opinion and lack of relevant medical records.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide a thorough discussion on why the arthritis is not related to the Veteran's military service, including his shrapnel injury. The Board also noted that there are no relevant private or VA medical records regarding the treatment of the Veteran's arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis of the right hand, elbow, and shoulder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 8, 2021
- Citation
- 21062607
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 785 · Granted: 34% (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 21062607.
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 rheumatoid arthritis disability rating is being remanded for additional development due to significant weight loss and anemia.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for sleep apnea and hepatic steatosis have been denied. The claim for rheumatoid arthritis is being remanded.,Service connection has not been established for the claimed conditions.
- Partly granted
Service connection for rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome is granted.,Service connection for hypertension is remanded due to insufficient evidence regarding its onset in service or as a result of a disease or injury in active service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for blackouts and fainting spells, a bilateral foot condition, and rheumatoid arthritis due to lack of new and relevant evidence.
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