The appeal was remanded to comply with the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 (VCAA) and implementing regulations which impose obligations on VA to provide claimants with notice and assistance.
The deciding factor: Further development is necessary to determine whether the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during his service in Thailand, as required by M21-1 MR, pt. IV, subpt. II, Ch. 2, sec. C, para. 10(m) (2006).
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, type II, with peripheral neuropathy and diabetic retinopathy, hypertension, to include as secondary to diabetes mellitus, type II
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 11, 2009
- Citation
- 0909087
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 0909087.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for muscle myopathy/intramuscular hemangioma of the right temple, diabetes mellitus, type II, hypertension, and sleep apnea to ensure an adequate medical opinion is obtained regarding the nexus between these conditions and toxic exposures during service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
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- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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