The Board has ordered additional development due to the destruction of service medical records. The veteran is asked to provide any alternative evidence supporting his claim.
The deciding factor: The VA's inability to produce service medical records led to a duty to assist in obtaining alternate evidence from collateral sources.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 26, 2006
- Citation
- 0602276
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 appeal was dismissed as the Board Appeal request was not timely filed.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for left ankle sprain, right knee injury, and right shoulder (claimed as clavicle fracture) was dismissed due to the untimely filing of the Board Appeal request.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for diabetic peripheral neuropathy as it is etiologically linked to the Veteran's service-connected diabetes. Other claims were remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for scars on the right leg and back of head, as well as left and right knee injuries, due to a lack of evidence supporting an in-service motor vehicle accident.
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