The Board has remanded the cases for further development and examination, including obtaining missing service records and a VA examination to address the Veteran's claims of service connection for his thumb disorders and facial reconstructive surgery.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the need for additional evidence and medical opinions due to incomplete information and missed opportunities for clarification from the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- Right thumb disorder, Left thumb disorder, Residuals of facial reconstructive surgery
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 9, 2024
- Citation
- 24031638
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,963 · Granted: 32% (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 24031638.
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 Board has remanded the cases of service connection for left and right knee disorders due to procedural errors. The Veteran's claims are not yet decided.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for major depressive disorder and anxiety, but dismissed the claims for a rating in excess of 10 percent for a right thumb disorder, a compensable rating for a right thumb scar, a rating in excess of 10 percent for a right thumb scar, and a left great toe disorder as moot. The claims for service connection for a left hip disorder, a right shoulder disorder, and PTSD were remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for various right hand and finger disabilities, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for right thumb disorder and gout, bilateral feet due to insufficient evidence in the record.
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