The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for residuals of cold injuries to his upper and lower extremities due to a failure by VA to obtain all relevant records, including SSA disability records and VA medical records. The case is now pending with the appropriate examiner to determine if there is a link between the claimed disabilities and in-service exposure to cold weather.
The deciding factor: The Court found that VA failed to satisfy its duty to assist due to missing VA treatment records and Social Security Administration (SSA) disability records, which may contain relevant information about the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and their relationship to his current conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a cold injury of the right upper extremity, residuals of a cold injury of the left upper extremity, residuals of a cold injury of the right lower extremity, residuals of a cold injury of the left lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19182868
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,828 · Granted: 32% (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 19182868.
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 Board has determined that additional examinations are needed to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed disabilities, including cold injury residuals and gastrointestinal disorder. The examination results will be used to decide whether service connection is warranted for these conditions.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current cold injury residuals in his right hand, left hand, and left lower extremity are related to service exposure to cold temperatures. The claims for service connection have been granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's combined service-connected disability rating is at least 80%, meeting the criteria for a TDIU. The evidence shows that his service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and degenerative arthritis of the hands and feet, render him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment.
- Granted
The Board has granted a higher initial rating of 30 percent for the service-connected residuals of cold injury to both the right and left lower extremities, based on the presence of multiple symptoms such as tissue loss, nail abnormalities, color changes, locally impaired sensation, hyperhidrosis, and X-ray abnormalities.
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