The veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development and consideration of his claims for service connection for head, back, and neck disabilities due to herbicide exposure. The RO must ensure that all notification and development action required by the VCAA are fully complied with.
The deciding factor: The appeal requires de novo review as it encompasses previously denied claims and new evidence has been submitted since the last SSOC in December 1997.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of head injury, low back condition, neck condition
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 8, 2006
- Citation
- 0603570
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 denied the veteran's claims for service connection, higher ratings, and earlier effective dates, as well as dismissed his claim for a TDIU.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and other benefits, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings or additional compensation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of a low back condition to obtain an adequate medical opinion, as the presumption of soundness has not been rebutted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including a back condition, right and left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, neck condition, upper extremity radiculopathy, bilateral flatfoot, right foot plantar fasciitis, and right ankle pain, as the current evidence is inadequate to make a decision.
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