The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to the need to discount the beneficial effects of use of pain medications when rating the Veteran's musculoskeletal disabilities due to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and left ankle tendinitis on appeal.
The deciding factor: The Board found that VA examiners did not fulfill the remand instructions regarding discounting the beneficial effects of use of pain medications when rating the Veteran's musculoskeletal disabilities due to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and left ankle tendinitis on appeal.
- Claimed conditions
- Right elbow disability due to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Right wrist limitation of motion due to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Left wrist limitation of motion due to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Right hip and thigh disability due to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Left ankle tendinitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2026
- Citation
- 26001227
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 26001227.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings and service connection have been dismissed due to concurrent elections of review options.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for increased ratings and service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to inadequate examinations and failure to address additional symptoms.
- Granted
The Veteran's Raynaud's syndrome is now rated at 40 percent effective February 11, 2009. The rating for other disabilities remains under review.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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