The Veteran's appeal is REMANDED for additional development regarding his claims of service connection for various conditions, including bilateral foot disability, bilateral eye condition, heart disease due to exposure to herbicides, prostate cancer due to exposure to herbicides, and diabetes mellitus II due to exposure to herbicides. The AOJ must obtain the Veteran's military personnel records from his service with the Air Force in 1960s and his duty with the Air Force Reserve in 1970s, verify his asserted in-service exposure as an aircraft maintenance personnel to herbicide agents, schedule him for a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any bilateral foot disability, and obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician concerning whether his in-service complaint of blurred vision is related to his cataracts.
The deciding factor: The appeal is REMANDED due to incomplete information regarding the Veteran's military service records and exposure to herbicide agents. The AOJ must gather this information before a decision can be made on the claims.
- Claimed conditions
- {"condition_name":"dental condition"}, {"condition_name":"bilateral foot disability"}, {"condition_name":"bilateral eye condition"}, {"condition_name":"heart disease due to exposure to herbicides"}, {"condition_name":"prostate cancer due to exposure to herbicides"}, {"condition_name":"diabetes mellitus II due to exposure to herbicides"}
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19127090
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.
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- Granted
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