The Board has reopened the claims of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), low back disability, and cervical spine disability. The RO must consider these issues again as part of the remand process.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms have been ongoing since service and there is a potential relationship to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Low back disability, Cervical spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19127089
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding a causal relationship between the condition and an in-service incident of military sexual trauma (MST).
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, a low back disability, residuals of a right foot injury, sinusitis, shortness of breath, allergic rhinitis, and sleep apnea as there was no evidence to support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
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