The veteran's claim for an increased rating for his bilateral epiphora disability is being remanded to the ROIC due to incomplete information and evidence. The VA will need to provide notice of what specific portion of any needed evidence he must submit, including employment or other records documenting the impact of his eye disability on his ability to maintain employment.
The deciding factor: The claim requires additional information from the veteran regarding the specifics of his bilateral epiphora disability and its impact on his employability.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral epiphora
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2005
- Citation
- 0500640
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,582 · Granted: 32% (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 0500640.
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 Board has denied service connection for various conditions, including allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, radiculopathy affecting both lower extremities, bilateral plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, pseudo folliculitis, ankle disorders, shoulder disorder, cervical spine disorder, jock itch, adjustment disorder with anxiety, acid reflux, athlete's foot and toenail fungus, and epiphora. The Board found no current diagnoses for these conditions.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a special home adaptation grant was denied as he does not meet the criteria for entitlement to this benefit due to lack of anatomical loss or use of both hands, and his visual acuity is not at 5/200 in both eyes.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development, including obtaining additional VA treatment records and providing an opinion on the impact of his bilateral epiphora on his employment in the railroad industry.
- Denied
The Board found that the veteran's bilateral epiphora was not incurred in or aggravated by service and is not proximately due to or the result of his service-connected left eye chalazion. Therefore, service connection for bilateral epiphora was denied.
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