The Board has determined that the VA examination and opinion provided in May 2011 are inadequate for adjudicating the claim. The Veteran's recurrent staph infections have been remanded for an addendum opinion to address whether it is at least as likely as not that the condition began in service, was caused by service, or is otherwise causally related to active service.
The deciding factor: The Board found the May 2011 VA examination inadequate due to its reliance on a lack of recurrent staph infections and remanded for an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's assertions regarding misdiagnosis during service and his risk of resistant staph infections as a Gulf War veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- recurrent staph infections
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 3, 2015
- Citation
- 1550710
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1550710.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for recurrent staph infections has been denied as there is no new and relevant evidence received since the July 2015 rating decision.,The appeal of a proposed reduction in the PTSD disability rating to 50% was dismissed because it was not an appealable final decision.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for recurrent staph infections status post inguinal hernia repair is dismissed due to his death.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for recurrent staph infections, finding that there was no evidence to support a relationship between his current condition and active service.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran did not incur an additional disability, including recurrent staph infections, due to a 1982 VA surgery. The opinion from the independent medical expert (IME) concluded it was less likely than not that the Veteran incurred these conditions as a result of the surgery.
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