The Board remands the matters for further development, specifically to obtain addendum opinions that more adequately address the requirements laid out in Sharp v. Shulkin.
The deciding factor: The addendum opinions provided do not comply with the requirements in Sharp v. Shulkin, as they indicate a deficiency in the record without identifying whether such a deficiency could be overcome with further development.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle strain, left knee condition (status post left knee twist injury with laxity and degenerative arthritis), right knee condition (status post right knee twist injury with laxity and degenerative arthritis), right middle finger condition (status post tuft fracture of the right middle finger)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2025
- Citation
- 25004481
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 124 · 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 25004481.
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 Veteran's annual clothing allowance for a foot and ankle brace in the 2022 calendar year was denied because the evidence did not show that any such brace tended to wear out or tear his clothing.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for left ankle strain, finding that there is clear and unmistakable evidence that the condition preexisted active service and was not aggravated by service. The appeal is dismissed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for left ankle strain, left knee strain, and bilateral hip strain due to a lack of etiology opinions in the record.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board is remanding the cases due to an incomplete record and a need for additional information regarding applications filed prior to March 9, 2020.
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