The Board remands the claims for service connection for arthritis of the cervical spine, bilateral knees, bilateral elbows, and bilateral shoulders to obtain new VA medical opinions that adequately address whether these conditions are related to military service or aggravated by service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Board failed to provide adequate reasons and bases for its May 2024 decision, as the VA medical opinions relied upon were inadequate.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the cervical spine, arthritis of the bilateral knees, arthritis of the bilateral elbows, arthritis of the bilateral shoulders
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2025
- Citation
- 25004831
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.
- Granted
The Board granted an evaluation of 10 percent, but no higher, prior to June 13, 2020, and a 30 percent rating thereafter for the Veteran's arthritis of the cervical spine.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a neck disorder, diagnosed as arthritis of the cervical spine, and a left leg disorder, diagnosed as arthritis of the left ankle.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including arthritis of the entire skeletal system (other than cervical spine, right shoulder, bilateral hands, and left foot), a left knee condition (other than arthritis), and other specific joints. The claims were not granted.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for thoracolumbar spondylosis with degenerative joint disease and remanded claims for internal derangement of the left knee with meniscectomy, bilateral pes planus, arthritis of the shoulders, elbows, hands and fingers, legs, diabetes mellitus, hypertension.
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