The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, heart condition, and multiple lipomas on whole body due to a stay regarding naval service and presumed herbicide exposure. Further development is required as it is unclear whether the USS Annapolis served within the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service personnel records show that he served on the USS Annapolis, but it is not clear whether the ship was in the 'official waters' of Vietnam. Further development is needed to determine if the Veteran served within the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, hypertension, heart condition, multiple lipomas on whole body
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19139269
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,088 · Granted: 33% (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 19139269.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a heart condition, including ischemic heart disease. The evidence did not support a finding of a current disability related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including VA examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to conflicting opinions regarding service connection for peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, and skin disabilities related to herbicide exposure.
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