The Board remands the case to obtain additional evidence and provide an examination to determine the etiology of the Veteran's lupus erythematosus and whether it is related to service or caused/aggravated his kidney disease.
The deciding factor: There is lay and medical evidence suggesting in-service symptoms that may be indicative of lupus, and a duty to provide an examination that includes an opinion addressing the contended causal relationship exists.
- Claimed conditions
- lupus erythematosus, residuals of a kidney transplant, to include as secondary to lupus erythematosus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 18, 2009
- Citation
- 0910019
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 appeal for an earlier effective date and a compensable rating for lupus erythematosus was dismissed as the Board's decision in April 2025 granted service connection with the earliest possible effective date and the highest possible rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU due to an inadequate VA examination and overlapping symptoms between her service-connected lupus and nonservice-connected fibromyalgia.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for connective tissue disease, loss of vision in the right eye, lupus erythematosus, peripheral neuropathy, and COPD due to missing medical evidence and inadequate opinions regarding service connection.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for lupus erythematosus as there is no evidence of a link between the veteran's current condition and his military service.
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