The Board remands the claims for service connection for right and left elbow disabilities and right and left shoulder disabilities due to duty-to-assist errors, including inadequate medical opinions and failure to obtain relevant private treatment records.
The deciding factor: Remand is required to provide adequate medical opinions addressing all theories of entitlement and to ensure compliance with the duty to assist by obtaining outstanding private treatment records.
- Claimed conditions
- right elbow disability, left elbow disability, right shoulder disability, left shoulder disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 4, 2024
- Citation
- A24071376
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 service connection for multiple conditions, including bilateral hearing loss and various musculoskeletal issues, as well as an initial rating in excess of 0 percent for rhinitis. However, the Board granted a 70 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and a right hip disability, and granted a 30 percent rating for ureterolithiasis. The claim for an increased rating for PTSD was denied, while other claims were remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for gastrointestinal disability and denied earlier effective dates for the awards of service connection for allergic rhinitis, migraine headaches, PTSD, and tinnitus. The Board also denied increased ratings for allergic rhinitis and tinnitus and remanded claims for service connection for right elbow disability.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for various musculoskeletal conditions of the left and right hands, shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, ankles, and foot, but granted service connection for a right knee disability and fibromyalgia. The decision was based on medical evidence that did not support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
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