The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to unavailability of his STRs and need for further development, including obtaining private treatment records and a VA examination.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the unavailability of the Veteran's Service Treatment Records (STRs) and the need for additional evidence and medical opinions to determine if the claimed disabilities are related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracolumbar spine disability, bilateral shoulder disability, bilateral knee disability, blurred vision, insomnia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 1, 2023
- Citation
- 23012687
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 23012687.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a bilateral shoulder disability and increased ratings for her bilateral knee disabilities, finding no evidence of in-service injury or disease related to these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for a neurological examination to determine if any diagnosed radiculopathy or other neurological disability affecting the lower extremities was caused or aggravated by service-connected conditions.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection of insomnia was denied, and the effective date is set to the date of receipt of the claim (May 31, 2024).
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia and alcohol use disorder caused his sleep apnea.
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