The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of adequate statement of reasons or bases addressing whether the July 2013 VA examination was adequate for rating purposes. The Veteran's appeal is now on hold until further medical opinions are provided regarding the severity of his service-connected right elbow sprain prior to April 20, 2017.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the June 2021 VA medical opinion did not provide an adequate estimate of additional motion loss during flare-ups or explain why such an estimate cannot be given contrary to Sharp v. Shulkin (2017).
- Claimed conditions
- right elbow sprain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 9, 2022
- Citation
- 22007487
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 22007487.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date prior to June 17, 2018, for the grant of service connection for cervicogenic headaches and a rating of 60 percent for pulmonary embolism. Other claims were either denied or remanded.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a right elbow sprain, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied an initial compensable rating for hypertension and a higher than 10 percent rating prior to April 20, 2017 for right elbow sprain. The case is being remanded for further evaluation of the Veteran's right elbow sprain.
- Denied
The Veteran's hypertension is rated as noncompensable, and the claim for a higher rating is denied.,For the period prior to April 20, 2017, the Veteran's right elbow sprain was rated at 10 percent. After that date, he is rated as noncompensable. The claim for an increased rating is denied.,The Veteran's tinnitus has been assigned the maximum authorized schedular rating of 10 percent and remains unchanged.
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