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Board of Veterans' Appeals · AMA series

Entitlement to an effective date of April 21, 2021, but no earlier, for the grant of service connection for the right shoulder acromioclavicular separation is granted.

July 30, 2026Citation Nr. A26069978Docket 220412-235059va.gov source

  • service connection for right shoulder acromioclavicular separationGranted

Board reasoning

The Board grants an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for the right shoulder acromioclavicular separation, holding that the date of claim is April 21, 2021, the date the intent to file was received, which was preserved by a timely supplemental claim filed within a year. The reasoning notes that the final September 2015 decision prevented an earlier effective date and that continuity of pursuit through the April 2022 HLR confirms the April 21, 2021 date as the later of the preserved claim date and entitlement arising.

Issues

  • service connection for right shoulder acromioclavicular separationGranted

Authorities

  • Sears v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 244 (2002)cites for general principle on effective date rules after final decision
  • Melton v. West, 13 Vet. App. 442 (2000)cites for reopening effective date rules
  • Brokowski v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 79, 84 (2009)defines informal claim elements
  • Rudd v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 296, 299-300 (2006)addresses finality and freestanding earlier dates for CUE

Extracted with gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07. Citations are kept only when they appear in the decision text.