The Board has remanded the claims for further development due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the etiology and relationship of the Veteran's conditions to his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide sufficient rationale in their opinions, particularly addressing causation and aggravation in secondary service connection cases.
- Claimed conditions
- right wrist condition (carpal tunnel syndrome), right heel condition, respiratory condition (bronchitis, pneumonia, coughing, lung lesion), varicocele, skin condition (eczema)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 31, 2018
- Citation
- 18146529
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 18146529.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and denied increased ratings for right shoulder impingement syndrome, hearing loss, painful scar, patellofemoral pain syndromes of the knees, and other conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for pneumonia and remanded the claims for iodine allergy, pilonidal cyst, sulfa allergy, heart disability, acquired psychiatric disorder, and lower and upper extremity disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to an inadequate VA medical opinion and a need for additional evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical opinion on whether the Veteran's acute hypoxemia, respiratory failure, and pneumonia were related to service or toxic exposure under the PACT Act.
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