The Board has decided the claims for increased ratings for chronic sinusitis, back disability, and right shoulder disability. The Veteran's claim for increased rating of chronic sinusitis is denied as there is no evidence of chronic osteomyelitis or near constant sinusitis with purulent discharge. For the back and right shoulder disabilities, the Board has found that additional development is needed due to inadequate VA examinations.
The deciding factor: The claims are remanded because the VA examinations did not comply with the requirements in Sharp v. Shulkin (2017) for determining the severity of the Veteran's right shoulder and back disabilities during flare-ups.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic sinusitis, back disability, right shoulder disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 5, 2023
- Citation
- 23000615
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (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 23000615.
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.
- Granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims of service connection for a back disability, endometriosis, thyroid condition, and chronic fatigue syndrome due to new evidence submitted since the last final denial. The claims are now considered on their merits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to incomplete service treatment records and a need for additional VA examination. The Veteran's back disability is being reviewed again with new evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including right shoulder disability, abdominal hernia, GERD, bilateral ankle disabilities, and bilateral foot disabilities. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated during the appellant's period of active duty.
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