The appeal is remanded for further development to verify the Veteran's claimed exposure to herbicides, specifically Agent Orange.
The deciding factor: Further development is required to determine if the Veteran was exposed to herbicides in a location other than the Republic of Vietnam or along the demilitarized zone in Korea.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, Type II, defective vision to include as secondary to service-connected disability, hypertension to include as secondary to service-connected disability, peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities to include as secondary to service-connected disability, erectile dysfunction to include as secondary to service-connected disability
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2009
- Citation
- 0909933
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 952 · Granted: 17% (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 0909933.
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 appeals for service connection on four separate conditions (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, kidney disease, and right knee replacement) have been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have rendered him unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation since June 2, 2017. The Board has decided that he is entitled to a TDIU effective from that date.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, Type II is granted as secondary to his service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for diabetes mellitus, Type II and related peripheral neuropathies as well as erectile dysfunction and coronary artery disease due to in-service exposure to toxic substances. The AOJ is required to verify whether the USS Suribachi was a brown water ship known to transport Agent Orange and obtain a VA examination to determine if these conditions are related to service.
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