The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the need to verify his exposure to herbicide agents and determine if any of the claimed conditions are related to such exposure. The issues will be reviewed again after this verification.
The deciding factor: Verification is needed to establish whether the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during his active duty for training in July 1967, which could impact service connection for various disabilities including diabetes mellitus and its associated conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, enlarged prostate, lesions on the back, chloracne, bladder stones, hypertension, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, diabetic eye disability, erectile dysfunction, right upper extremity diabetic neuropathy, left upper extremity diabetic neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19107735
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 granted an effective date of October 21, 2021, for the grant of service connection for hypertension.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for tinnitus to correct a duty to assist error, as the Veteran's lay statements regarding onset and continuity of symptoms were not adequately considered in the previous decision.
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