The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to incomplete records and unclear diagnoses. The issues of service connection are inextricably intertwined with the issue of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability.
The deciding factor: The appeal is remanded as there may be outstanding and relevant Social Security Administration and VA treatment records that have not yet been added to the claim file, and the nature of the Veteran's psychiatric disability remains unclear due to conflicting opinions from private providers.
- Claimed conditions
- back disability, neck disability, left knee disability, right knee disability, bilateral hearing loss disability, tinnitus, sleep disability, acquired psychiatric disability (likely alcohol use disorder), hypertension, heart disability, headache disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19175682
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,549 · Granted: 29% (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 19175682.
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 Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
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