The Board remands the claims for service connection for a left wrist disability, right shoulder disability, medial epicondylitis of the right elbow, and an acquired psychiatric disability as new and relevant evidence has been received to reopen these claims.
The deciding factor: New and relevant evidence was submitted after the prior final denial of the claims, specifically a September 2020 private medical opinion that diagnosed degenerative joint disease of the left wrist and right shoulder, which were not previously considered in the February 2010 rating decision.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the left wrist, Right shoulder tendinitis and degenerative joint disease of the right shoulder, Medial epicondylitis of the right elbow, Acquired psychiatric disability (including alcohol abuse disorder, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, unspecified anxiety disorder, traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-concussion, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD))
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25058858
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 835 · Granted: 22% (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 A25058858.
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 claims for higher ratings for medial epicondylitis of the right elbow and tendonitis of the left hand were denied. The Veteran was granted a compensable rating (10%) for tendonitis of the left-hand effective August 29, 2012.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation, thus denying his claim for TDIU.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate rationale in the VA opinion and failure to comply with remand directives. The Veteran's right elbow disability is being reviewed for service connection on both direct theory (no current diagnosis found) and secondary theory (right shoulder disability aggravation).
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected elbow and wrist disabilities have not met the criteria for a higher disability rating at any time during the appeal period.
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