The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's Chiari malformation was aggravated by his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner is required to determine if the Chiari malformation is a congenital defect or disease, and provide an opinion on its likely cause during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Chiari malformation
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19142250
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 decided that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of Chiari malformation and denies service connection for this condition. The issues of service connection for blurry vision and headaches are remanded due to lack of substantial compliance with prior remand directives.
- Denied
The Board denied benefits for spina bifida and other birth defects because the appellant does not have a diagnosis of spina bifida and her mother is not a Vietnam Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal must be remanded to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC) for a VA examination and further development of evidence.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.