The Board has remanded the case due to missing VA medical treatment records and inextricably intertwined issues of TDIU. The Veteran's service-connected asbestosis with COPD is the basis for both increased rating and TDIU claims.
The deciding factor: The decision was remanded due to incomplete evidence, specifically missing VA medical treatment records from January 2019, which were referenced in the March 2019 rating decision. The issues of increased evaluation and TDIU are intertwined as the Veteran is already receiving a 100% disability rating for his service-connected condition.
- Claimed conditions
- asbestosis with COPD
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19181218
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 19181218.
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 appeal was denied a higher rating for asbestosis with COPD, but granted a TDIU on an extraschedular basis effective July 1, 2014.
- Denied
The Board has granted a TDIU for the period from September 27, 2013 through July 30, 2015 due to service-connected asbestosis with COPD. The issue of a TDIU from July 31, 2015 is dismissed because the Veteran's respiratory disability alone rendered him unemployable.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to procedural issues related to the reduction in disability rating from 30% to noncompensable for asbestosis with COPD. The Veteran was not provided proper consideration of the relevant regulations governing rating reductions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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