The Veteran's service-connected disabilities alone are of sufficient severity to produce unemployability from May 24, 2012. The Board has vacated the November 2018 remand and remanded the issues on appeal.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s service-connected disabilities alone produced unemployability due to his anxiety disorder which significantly impacted his ability to handle stress and secure substantially gainful employment.
- Claimed conditions
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Cervical Strain, Varicose Veins of the Left Lower Extremity, Varicose Veins of the Right Lower Extremity, GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease), Right Ilio-Inguinal Neuropathy, Tinnitus, Left Ear Hearing Loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19136258
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 19136258.
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 bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for PTSD and dismissed his appeals regarding increased ratings for tinnitus and a right hand disability due to lack of timely filing of Notice of Disagreement.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's PTSD rating was reduced from 70 percent to 50 percent, effective February 20, 2025. The Board finds the reduction improper and restores the 70 percent disability rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including GAD, MDD, bruxism, migraines/headaches, tinnitus, hip pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and leg stress fractures. The evidence does not support current diagnoses of these conditions during the appeal period.
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