The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to herbicide exposure, finding that additional development is required to determine if he served in the Republic of Vietnam. The Veteran contends his conditions are related to his time aboard the U.S.S. Tripoli while operating offshore Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The Federal Circuit has held that VA must consider whether the Veteran served within the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam, as this may affect his eligibility for presumptive service connection due to herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, erectile dysfunction, peripheral neuropathy of the right upper extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19149808
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 remands the claim for service connection for erectile dysfunction due to an inadequate VA opinion regarding its etiology.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including sinusitis, elbows condition, cervical condition, erectile dysfunction, kidney condition, sleep apnea, wrists condition, asthma, shoulders condition, ankles condition, eye condition (bilateral dry macular degeneration), peripheral vascular disease (heart condition), and rhinitis.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and denied increased ratings for right shoulder impingement syndrome, hearing loss, painful scar, patellofemoral pain syndromes of the knees, and other conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board grants service connection for tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's tinnitus began during his period of active duty service. The claims for ischemic heart disease, aortic valve replacement, status post aortic stenosis, and peripheral vascular disease with popliteal aneurysm are remanded.
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