The Veteran's left eye partial loss of sight and jaw injury (also claimed as fracture), pain, nerve damage, and numbness in chin are due to the carotid artery surgery performed by a first-year resident. The Board finds that VA was negligent for allowing this procedure and remands for an independent medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's complications were not reasonably foreseeable given the informed consent provided prior to the operation.
- Claimed conditions
- left eye partial loss of sight, jaw injury (also claimed as fracture), pain, nerve damage, numbness in chin
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19186035
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 remands the claims for service connection for various conditions to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including obtaining outstanding Social Security Administration records.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claims for service connection and increased ratings as the appeal was untimely.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a liver biopsy residuals, to include pain, under 38 USC § 1151 due to deficiencies in the previous VA examination and lack of an associated consent form.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed due to untimely filing of the Board Appeal requests.
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