The Board has remanded the case for further development, including adjudicating a claim of service connection for a right eye disability. The other issues on appeal will be re-adjudicated after this development is completed.
The deciding factor: Further development is needed to determine if the Veteran's right eye disability is service-connected and whether he was rated totally disabling for 10 or more years prior to his death, which would affect his eligibility for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1318.
- Claimed conditions
- left eye macular degeneration, right eye disability (macular degeneration)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19185993
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 19185993.
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 initial compensable rating for headaches and his claim for TDIU from August 31, 2011, to February 20, 2018 are both remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's bilateral eye disability is related to service-connected conditions or presumed herbicide exposure. The case will be returned for further development and consideration.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right eye vision loss as there is no current diagnosis of such condition and the Veteran does not have a history of right eye symptoms or impairment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to incomplete medical opinions and need for additional evidence. The Veteran's left eye cataracts are being reviewed, as is his claim for SMC benefits and Chapter 35 DEA benefits.
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