The Board has remanded the case due to ambiguities and discrepancies in the November 2017 VA examiner's report. The Veteran needs to provide additional medical records, including private medical records and photographic evidence of symptom severity during flares. A new examination or addendum opinion is required from a dermatologist.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the November 2017 examination report requires clarification regarding the extent of involvement, duration, and frequency of flares for the service-connected skin disabilities, as well as whether the cumulative severity of all skin conditions involved at least 5 percent of total body or exposed areas.
- Claimed conditions
- herpes, seborrhea dermatitis, folliculitis vulgaris, lichen simplex chronicus, dyshidrotic eczema
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19131614
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for prostatitis, HIV, CHF, GERD, herpes, a pulmonary disability, headaches, and type 2 diabetes mellitus as the evidence did not support a finding of a current disability or a nexus to service or a service-connected disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands multiple issues related to the Veteran's service-connected conditions for further development and adjudication.
- Dismissed
The Veteran requested the withdrawal of all issues currently on appeal, and the Board dismissed the appeals.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain a medical opinion from an infectious disease specialist who is not employed at the Houston VAMC, as the previous opinion was found deficient.
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