Service connection has been granted for residuals of frostbite of the left and right lower extremities. The Veteran's cervical dystonia and GERD claims are being returned for further development.,The Veteran's cervical dystonia claim is being returned for a new medical opinion due to inadequate reasoning in the previous VA examination. His GERD claim is also being returned for an examination as there was no full evaluation of his condition.,Service connection for residuals of frostbite of the upper extremities and peripheral neuropathy are being returned for further development, including examinations to assess these conditions.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's cervical dystonia may be related to head trauma during service or a genetic link. The GERD claim is unclear if it began in service.,Service connection cannot be determined without additional evidence regarding the onset and relationship of the GERD to service, as there was no full examination conducted.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of frostbite of the left lower extremity, residuals of frostbite of the right lower extremity, cervical dystonia, gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19108272
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,874 · Granted: 33% (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 19108272.
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 has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for headaches and gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD) due to secondary service connection. The Veteran is seeking service connection for these conditions as being related to his service-connected allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, and status post-lumbar laminectomy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's GI disorders are related to his service, but the AOJ needs to determine which specific deployments and activities caused these conditions. The case is being remanded for further development.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection on multiple conditions has been dismissed due to their death.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for total disability due to individual unemployability (TDIU) as there is insufficient evidence to support that her service-connected conditions caused her to be unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment.
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