The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical evidence regarding whether the Veteran's peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities is caused by his service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II. The VA examiner's opinion was based on an erroneous understanding of the Veteran’s medical history.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not consider causation in their opinion and the record does not establish a baseline for the neuropathy prior to its diagnosis after the diabetes diagnosis.
- Claimed conditions
- Peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19174770
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 19174770.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for diabetes mellitus type 2 due to herbicide exposure and peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities secondary to the service-connected diabetes, but remanded the claim for cause of death.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for bilateral hearing loss was denied, while the appeals for diabetes mellitus, type II, and peripheral neuropathy of both upper and lower extremities were remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities, as well as skin cancer, are granted. The claim for skin cancer is remanded due to a lack of opinion on direct service connection.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities, attributing it to a lack of in-service neurological injury or disease, no continuous symptoms since service, and insufficient evidence linking the condition to presumed herbicide exposure.
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