The Board remands the Veteran's claims for increased ratings of his left and right shoulder, left and right knee, and left ankle disabilities due to inadequate VA examinations.
The deciding factor: The August 2021 VA examinations were found inadequate as they failed to elicit a thorough medical history from the Veteran and did not account for reported flare-ups and functional loss upon repeated use over time.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder s/p arthroscopy with subacromial decompression, biceps tendinosis and AC joint osteoarthritis, right shoulder s/p arthroscopy with subacromial decompression, biceps tendinosis and AC joint osteoarthritis, left knee strain (claimed as tendonitis), right knee strain (claimed as tendonitis), left ankle strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 21, 2025
- Citation
- A25045744
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 service connection, increased ratings, and earlier effective dates as there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between his current conditions and his active military service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial evaluation of 20 percent for left and right ankle strains, denied a compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss, and remanded claims for hypertension and gout.
- Denied
The Board denied earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection and initial increased ratings for various conditions, as well as remanded several issues for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for left shoulder strain, right shoulder strain, early osteoarthritis of the left and right hips (secondary to a service-connected knee disability), and right and left ankle strains (secondary to a service-connected knee disability).
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