The veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including a VA examination to assess the impact of his service-connected disabilities on his ability to use assistive devices.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the previous instructions were not followed and thus requires additional medical evaluation to determine if the veteran's service-connected conditions meet the criteria for loss of use of the right lower extremity, which would affect eligibility for specially adapted housing or special home adaptation grant.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of shell fragment wounds to the right fourth toe, right ankle and right hip, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic low back pain, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, bilateral hearing loss, residuals of fracture of the left third, fourth and fifth ribs, scar on the back of head, diabetic retinopathy associated with diabetes mellitus, amputation of the fourth and fifth right toes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 24, 2008
- Citation
- 0802698
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 0802698.
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 for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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