The Veteran's claims for higher ratings and effective dates are being remanded due to a duty-to-assist error in not obtaining private treatment records from Blessing Hospital and Blessing Physician Services Behavioral Health. The TDIU claim is also remanded as it affects the DEA eligibility claim.
The deciding factor: There was an omission of private treatment records, which requires further investigation.
- Claimed conditions
- right hand neuropathy, contusion with soft tissue pain at the radial-scaphoid and CMC joint regions, borderline personality disorder, IBS with GERD, right shoulder AC and glenohumeral joint osteoarthritis, hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2024
- Citation
- A24085665
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 A24085665.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for headaches and increased ratings for left shoulder rotator cuff tear, right shoulder rotator cuff tear, hypertension, and left and right leg restless leg syndrome. The Board denied a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's PTSD was granted a maximum disability rating of 100 percent effective December 12, 2022. The ratings for migraines and IBS with GERD were restored from noncompensable to their previous levels.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of October 21, 2021, for the grant of service connection for hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma but denied it for hypertension.
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