The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 due to carelessness and neglect by VA personnel is remanded because the October 2015 medical opinion did not address his theory of additional disability caused by a delay in referring him to a retina specialist.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the October 2015 VA medical opinion did not adequately address the Veteran's claim as it focused on treatment from 2012-2014 and failed to consider the crux of his contention regarding a delay in referral for treatment by a retina specialist.
- Claimed conditions
- loss of vision in the left eye
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2019
- Citation
- A19002041
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for an additional disability (left eye vision loss and related conditions) allegedly caused by a July 2020 VA surgical procedure. The remand was necessary to obtain missing informed consent documentation from VA's Vista Imaging system and to obtain a more thorough medical opinion addressing whether the claimed disability resulted from VA fault or an unforeseeable event.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for all claimed conditions, including hypertension, hypothyroidism, loss of vision in the left eye, prostate cancer, and metastatic bone cancer. The decision was based on a lack of evidence linking these conditions to military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to new and material evidence having been submitted in some cases, and additional VA treatment records have been added to his file. The Veteran will be provided a supplemental statement of the case if their benefits are not granted.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's left eye disability, nasal septum fractures, and multiple facial fractures. The appeal was dismissed for the remaining issues.
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