The Veteran's left shoulder, low back, and psoriasis disabilities have been granted service connection. However, the acquired psychiatric disorders (bipolar disorder and PTSD) and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy secondary to the low back disability are still under review.
The deciding factor: The VA mental health examination is needed to determine if the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders are related to his in-service experiences or any other service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder disability, low back disability, psoriasis affecting the bilateral upper and lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 29, 2021
- Citation
- 21077363
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 21077363.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that remand is needed for the Veteran's claims due to duty to assist errors, including clarification of periods of service and obtaining relevant records. The Veteran will be afforded new medical examinations for each claimed disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claims of right shoulder disability and low back disability due to insufficient evidence.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection of a low back disability was granted with an effective date of January 9, 2018. The Board accepted her November 21, 2019 VA Form 20-0996 as a valid opt-in of the April 2019 SOC into the modernized review system.
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