The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for low back disorder, sleep disorder, bilateral eye condition, and stomach disorder due to insufficient opinions provided by the VA examiners. The Veteran's lay statements regarding his in-service injuries are considered.
The deciding factor: The opinions were inadequate as they did not consider the Veteran's lay statements about his in-service injuries.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disorder, Sleep disorder, Bilateral eye condition, Stomach disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19133012
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 the veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, bilateral tinnitus, sleep disorder, erectile dysfunction, and right eye injury as new and relevant evidence was not received to readjudicate these claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a low back disorder to correct duty to assist errors, as the previous VA examinations and opinions are inadequate.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's service-connected right and left knee disabilities, granted a 20% rating for each, and denied an increased rating for degenerative disc disease of the spine. The Board also denied increased ratings for generalized anxiety disorder and service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder, bruxism, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, fatigue, and sleep disorder.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, while remanding claims for depression, anxiety, sleep disorder, right knee strain, left knee strain, and lumbar spine strain.
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