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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for sleep apnea, an acquired psychiatric disorder, bilateral restless leg syndrome, bilateral tremors of the hands, chronic headaches, facial dermatosis, erectile dysfunction (loss of use of a creative organ due to varicocele), and varicocele. The Veteran's symptoms have been observed since his time in service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an effective date prior to December 7, 2015, for the award of service connection for varicocele and epididymitis has been dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal request.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for varicocele and rating tendonitis of the right ankle in excess of 10 percent to obtain additional evidence.
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