The Veteran's claim to reopen a service connection for a bilateral eye disability is granted. The case is remanded for further development, including obtaining VA and private treatment records, securing SSA records, and arranging an ophthalmologic examination. For the service connection issue on the merits, the case is also remanded for another opinion from a cardiovascular physician regarding whether TIAs or strokes are related to service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran submitted new evidence showing current eye symptoms and disabilities that relate to documented eye conditions in service. However, further development is needed as there is no medical opinion addressing whether any of the Veteran's current eye disabilities are related to his well-documented eye problems during service throughout 1968.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Eye Disability, Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs) or Strokes
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19181126
Veterans Law Judge
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 19181126.
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 bilateral hearing loss disability is rated as non-compensable.,His acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, is rated at 50 percent.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a need for a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's bilateral eye disability is related to in-service toxic exposure risk activities other than herbicide exposure.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and a bilateral eye disability, both of which are found to be proximately due to the Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for PTSD with alcohol use disorder.
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