Shoulder Condition VA Claim Grants

Findings of Fact (verbatim from decision)

1. The appellant's lumbar spine disability rating is manifested by 2. One of the four of the appellant's right shoulder scars is painful.

Reasons & Bases (verbatim from decision)

The appellant honorably served on active duty in the United States Air Force from November 2000 to August 2001 and in the United States Army from September 2013 to February 2014, from August 2016 to August 2017, from September 2017 to March 2018, and from June 2020 to September 2020. Procedural History These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an appeal of an August 2018 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Veterans Benefits Administration, the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ), which, inter alia, granted entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability, assigning a 10 percent disability rating, effective the date of claim, March 24, 2018. It also granted entitlement to service connection for right shoulder surgical scars, assigning a noncompensable disability rating, effective the same date. VA received the appellant's notice of disagreement (NOD) with the assigned disability ratings for these conditions in April 2019; VA issued a statement of the case (SOC) in February 2020; and VA received the appellant's timely VA Form 9 (substantive appeal) in March 2020. On the VA Form 9, the appellant requested a hearing before the Board. That hearing was held before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in November 2022; a transcript of that proceeding is associated with the claims file.…

Findings of Fact (verbatim from decision)

1. On June 28, 2022, prior to the promulgation of a decision in the appeal, the Board received notification from the Veteran that a withdrawal of his appeals for entitlement to an effective date earlier than August 20, 2018 for the grant of a 30 percent disability rating for a cervical spine disability, entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for a left shoulder disability, entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for a lumbar spine disability and entitlement to service connection for a diarrhea disability was requested. 2. In a December 2014 decision, the RO denied the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for hypertension and right ankle disabilities. 3…

Reasons & Bases (verbatim from decision)

The Veteran served on active duty from July 2004 to May 2014. These matters are before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2018 rating decision of a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In June 2022, the Veteran was afforded a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ). A transcript of the hearing testimony is of record. The Board additionally notes that the Veteran also previously testified in a January 2020 hearing before a VLJ on issues not presently before the Board which were subsequently adjudicated in a March 2020 Board decision. While the issues are not before the Board, transcript of the hearing testimony is also of record. In the February 2020 statement of the case (SOC), the RO, in part, reopened and then denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension. The Board points out that regardless of what the RO or AMC has done, the Board must address the question of whether new and material evidence to reopen the claim has been received because the issue goes to the Board's jurisdiction to reach the underlying claims and adjudicate them on a de novo basis. See Barnett v. Brown, 83 F.3d 1380, 1383 (Fed. Cir. 1996). In other words, the Board must find new and material evidence in order to establish its jurisdiction to review the merits of a previously denied claim.…

Findings of Fact (verbatim from decision)

1. The claim for service connection for a low back condition was previously denied in an unappealed rating decision issued in September 1980; evidence that was not before agency decision makers at that time and that has at least a reasonable chance of substantiating the claim has been added to the record. 2. Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, his degenerative osteoarthritis of the lumbosacral spine with IVDS is at least as likely as not related to his in-service back injury in which he fell down a flight of stairs. 3.…

Reasons & Bases (verbatim from decision)

The Veteran had active service from February 1980 to April 1980. These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision issued in August 2017. During the course of this appeal, the Veteran testified via live video conference at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) in May 2023. A transcript of that hearing is associated with the claims file. New and Material Evidence 1. The petition to reopen the claim for service connection for a low back condition based on new and material evidence The Veteran previously made a claim for service connection for service connection for a low back condition that was resolved by a rating decision issued in September 1980. The Veteran did not file a notice of disagreement (NOD) or submit additional evidence within one year of that decision. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5108, 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.156(b), 19.52. Consequently, the September 1980 decision was final. The Veteran's claim was decided prior to the advent of the regulations governing appeals under the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA). Consequently, new and material evidence is required to readjudicate a previously denied claim. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5108, 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(a).…

Findings of Fact (verbatim from decision)

Resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, his left shoulder disability was incurred in service and has continued to the present.

Findings of Fact (verbatim from decision)

1. New and material evidence has been associated with the claims file since the prior final denial of entitlement to service connection for a right shoulder condition in February 2007. 2. New and material evidence has been associated with the claims file since the prior final denial of entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder condition in February 2007. 3. New and material evidence has been associated with the claims file since the prior final denial of entitlement to service connection for a neck condition in February 2007. 4.…

Reasons & Bases (verbatim from decision)

The Veteran had active duty service in the United States Air Force from September 1982 to May 2003. The Board thanks the Veteran for his service to our country. In September 2023, the Veteran testified at a Board virtual hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge; a hearing transcript is associated with the claims file. 1. Reopening of entitlement to service connection for a right shoulder condition 2. Reopening of entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder condition 3. Reopening of entitlement to service connection for a neck condition 4. Reopening of entitlement to service connection for a back condition 5. Reopening of entitlement to service connection for PTSD In general, decisions that are not timely appealed are final. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.200. However, if new and material evidence is presented or secured with respect to a disallowed claim, the Board shall reopen the claim and review its former disposition. 38 U.S.C. § 5108; Jackson v. Principi, 265 F.3d 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2001); Barnett v. Brown, 83 F.3d 1380 (Fed. Cir. 1996). "New" evidence is that which is not cumulative or redundant of that previously of record; "material" evidence is that which is sufficient, when considered by itself or with previous evidence of record, to raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim. 38 C.F.R. § 3.156.…