The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for a compensable disability rating for his umbilical hernia prior to May 28, 2010 and an earlier effective date for TDIU prior to November 5, 2008 must be remanded due to confusion in the submissions and need for further development.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claims were not clearly articulated, leading to confusion regarding what he was seeking. The Board finds that his August 2018 NOD raised a claim for an increased rating and TDIU based on his umbilical hernia condition prior to May 28, 2010.
- Claimed conditions
- umbilical hernia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19163448
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,350 · Granted: 26% (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 19163448.
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 claims for increased ratings and initial disability ratings were denied. The Veteran was granted a rating of 40 percent, but no higher, for diabetic peripheral neuropathy affecting the right lower extremity and left lower extremity, and a rating of 20 percent, but no higher, for diabetic peripheral neuropathy affecting the left upper extremity (minor).
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were denied as there was no current evidence of the claimed conditions, or they did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of an umbilical hernia, finding that there was no evidence to support a relationship between his military service and the condition.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for hiatal hernia, deviated septum, left shoulder condition, umbilical hernia, and left upper extremity radiculopathy as there is no persuasive evidence that these conditions began during active service or are otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.
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