The Board previously denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for acne and residual scarring from acne. The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) has now vacated this decision, requiring further development to determine if the Veteran's preexisting acne was aggravated by her military service.
The deciding factor: The Court found that the Board did not adequately address whether the Veteran's acne clearly and unmistakably existed prior to service and whether it was clearly and unmistakably not aggravated by service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acne, Residual Scarring from Acne
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 25, 2017
- Citation
- 1747908
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 1747908.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for acne, finding that his pre-existing condition clearly and unmistakably existed prior to service and was not aggravated by military service.
- Granted
The Veteran was found to be precluded from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to August 29, 2024 due to her service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The reduction in rating for other specified anxiety disorder from 30 to 10 percent, effective May 1, 2025 was improper and restoration of the prior 30 percent rating is granted.,The reduction of acne rating from 10 percent to zero percent was improper and restoration of the 10 percent rating is denied.,The reduction in rating for lumbosacral strain from 40 percent to 10 percent was improper and restoration of the 40 percent rating is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for nonservice-connected pension and special monthly pension due to duty-to-assist errors, including obtaining SSA records and scheduling a VA examination.
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