The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims of service connection for esophageal dysmotility and bilateral upper and lower extremity radiculopathy need further development due to inadequate medical opinions. The VA is required to provide new medical opinions regarding these conditions.
The deciding factor: The existing medical opinions are deemed insufficient as they do not address the specific facts of the Veteran's condition, including the effect of his service-connected coronary artery disease medications on esophageal dysmotility and the distinction between radiculopathy and polyneuropathy symptoms for bilateral upper and lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Claimed conditions
- esophageal dysmotility, bilateral upper and lower extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2024
- Citation
- 24001637
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 899 · Granted: 45% (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 24001637.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran is found to be in need of regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected disabilities, including a right foot disability. The Board grants SMC based on the need for aid and attendance.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation based on aid and attendance for the period of February 27, 2014, to January 14, 2019, and from September 1, 2020.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including bilateral hearing loss, lumbosacral spinal stenosis with degenerative arthritis, cervical stenosis with hypertrophic arthropathy, and associated radiculopathy, prevent him from securing or following substantially gainful employment. The Board has granted a TDIU based on these conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's right shoulder rotator cuff syndrome and other service-connected disabilities have been found to warrant increased ratings, with a 40 percent rating granted for the right shoulder disability and TDIU granted.
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