The Board has determined that additional evidence is needed to substantiate the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including a lumbar spine condition, bilateral knee condition, left ankle condition, right ankle condition, decreased visual acuity, lower extremity vascular condition, and anxiety disorder. The RO must attempt to obtain relevant VA treatment records from Columbia, Missouri and Leavenworth VAMC, clarify the transportation arrangements with the correctional facility, and schedule an audiological examination for the Veteran.
The deciding factor: The Board found that additional evidence is needed to substantiate the service connection claims due to incomplete record development and potential logistical issues related to scheduling a VA examination in the Veteran's prison setting.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine condition, bilateral knee condition, left ankle condition, right ankle condition, decreased visual acuity, lower extremity vascular condition, anxiety disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19161882
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,797 · Granted: 20% (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 19161882.
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 Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension and increased rating for anxiety disorder have been denied. The Board found that there is no evidence of a current disability meeting the criteria for hypertension, and the Veteran's anxiety disorder does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased disability ratings for his left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome and left ankle condition have been dismissed due to the withdrawal of the appeal by the Veteran's representative.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a shoulder condition, bilateral knee condition, and right hip condition. The Veteran's claims were based on current diagnoses of these conditions but the evidence did not support an in-service injury or disease.,The Board also noted that there was no nexus between the current disabilities and service due to lack of in-service complaints or injuries.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's tinnitus was granted service connection. The Board found the VA audiological examination inadequate for adjudicative purposes and remanded for an adequate VA audiological examination to determine if the Veteran has bilateral hearing loss. Service connection for PTSD, anxiety disorder, and depression is also remanded as there are insufficient competent medical evidence on file.
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