The Board has decided to remand the claims for bilateral shoulder disabilities due to inadequate VA medical opinions and failure to obtain relevant service personnel records and treatment records. The AOJ will need to correct these errors in order to properly adjudicate the claims.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the inadequacy of the VA medical opinions, which did not consider the Veteran's history of shoulder surgery and the relevance of osteopoikilosis during service. Additionally, the AOJ failed to obtain relevant service personnel records and treatment records for the Veteran's June 2009 left shoulder surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Shoulder Disability, Right Shoulder Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 20, 2024
- Citation
- A24048086
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 A24048086.
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 claims for service connection for right and left shoulder disabilities are remanded. The claim for sleep disorder (claimed as sleep apnea) remains denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an effective date before April 1, 2018 for a 20% rating for left shoulder disability was denied. The appeal also resulted in the assignment of a 20% rating from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2018, and a TDIU granted from April 1, 2018 to September 3, 2025.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right and left shoulder disabilities, finding insufficient evidence to establish an in-service event or injury related to his shoulders. The Veteran's current shoulder conditions are not linked to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's right shoulder disability, low back condition, bilateral knee disabilities, and left shoulder strain have been granted service connection. The Veteran's low back condition has been increased to a 40 percent evaluation, while the bilateral knee conditions remain at their current 10 percent evaluations.
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