The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral toenail onychomycosis and allergic rhinitis and septal deviation due to trauma as they failed to ensure VA satisfied the duty to assist in this case by providing an adequate VA examination.
The deciding factor: The Joint Motion for Remand found that the Board relied on inadequate April 2015 VA examination reports, which did not provide rationales and left spaces blank for explanations. The remanded tasks include scheduling new examinations with adequate rationale and consideration of the Veteran's lay statements in compliance with previous instructions.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral toenail onychomycosis, allergic rhinitis and septal deviation due to trauma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19112553
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 940 · Granted: 21% (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 19112553.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals for bilateral toenail onychomycosis and erectile dysfunction, resulting in the dismissal of these claims.
- Granted
The Veteran's appeal for an effective date prior to June 1, 2015, for the grant of service connection for bilateral toenail onychomycosis has been withdrawn.,The Veteran's appeals for service connection for a sinus disability, asbestos exposure, tendonitis, respiratory disability, and residuals from burns have all been withdrawn. The effective date for his service connection claims for bilateral pes planus and lumbosacral strain is now set at November 11, 2005.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including anxiety, depression, insomnia, toenail onychomycosis, athlete's foot, rashes on crotch, chloracne, diabetes mellitus type II, right upper extremity neuropathy, left lower and right lower extremity neuropathies, and a left-hand condition. The Board found no evidence of current diagnoses for these conditions or any nexus to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim for service connection for a skin disorder due to an inadequate opinion from the January 2020 VA examiner. The Veteran's duty status during treatment needs to be verified, and an addendum opinion is required.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.