The Veteran's claims for increased disability ratings and TDIU are remanded due to a pre-decisional error in obtaining private medical records.
The deciding factor: VA failed to obtain all relevant private treatment records during the appeal period, which could impact the rating decisions on the upper and lower extremity neuropathies.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity, diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the right upper extremity, diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 6, 2019
- Citation
- A19000796
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 961 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A19000796.
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 Veteran's service connection claims for DMII, bilateral lower extremity diabetic peripheral neuropathy, and bowel resection are granted. The claim for OSA is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD was granted a 100% disability rating effective June 8, 2020. The appeal for earlier effective dates for the service-connected disabilities is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus type II has been granted an increased rating of 40 percent, but no higher, for diabetic peripheral neuropathy affecting the left lower extremity.,The Veteran's diabetes mellitus type II has also been granted an increased rating of 40 percent, but no higher, for diabetic peripheral neuropathy affecting the right lower extremity.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for special home adaptation as defined by VA regulations.
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