The Board remands the claims for service connection for various musculoskeletal conditions due to a lack of evidence and the unavailability of the Veteran's service treatment records.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to the unavailability of the Veteran's STRs and to ensure that there is a complete record upon which to decide the claim, as required by the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act (AMA).
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral shoulder condition, claimed as arthritis, bilateral knee condition, claimed as arthritis, bilateral ankle condition, bilateral flatfeet, low back condition
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 15, 2025
- Citation
- A25043853
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 the veteran's claims for increased ratings and other benefits, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings or additional compensation.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the petition to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for a bilateral shoulder condition, but denied petitions to reopen claims for residuals of heat exhaustion, any dysfunction regulating body temperature, and a right ankle condition. The Board also remanded claims for bruxism and a bilateral shoulder condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of a low back condition to obtain an adequate medical opinion, as the presumption of soundness has not been rebutted.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a low back condition, finding that the Veteran's current disability had its clinical onset during his active duty service.
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