The Board has denied service connection for lower back pain and right shoulder pain, but has remanded the claim of major depressive disorder with suicidal tendency due to a duty to assist error.
The deciding factor: There is no indication that the Veteran's service personnel records were requested or are of record, which may be relevant to his claims for mental health conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back pain, right shoulder pain, major depressive disorder with suicidal tendency
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2026
- Citation
- A26035342
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 A26035342.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a VA examination to determine the etiology of the Veteran's lower back pain.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded all issues for further development, including verification of the Veteran's service dates and consideration of any newly identified periods of service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for higher ratings and service connection are being remanded due to scheduling conflicts preventing VA examinations, and the claim for a higher rating based on multiple noncompensable disabilities is inextricably intertwined with other pending claims.
- Partly granted
Service connection for lower back pain and right knee pain and swelling has been granted.,The claim of service connection for PTSD is remanded due to the need to verify an in-service stressor.
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