The Veteran's claim for bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities, which he contends is due to herbicide exposure in service, has been remanded due to deficiencies in the record and need for additional development regarding his Naval Reserve duty.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there were insufficient records from the Veteran’s Naval Reserve duty service to determine if his symptoms began within one year of separation from active duty. The examiner was asked to consider whether current bilateral peripheral neuropathy could be caused by or aggravated by any aspect of service, including Reserve duty.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186823
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,030 · Granted: 17% (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 19186823.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right ankle degenerative arthritis other than post-traumatic, right ankle tendinopathy, bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities, and knee joint osteoarthritis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for skin cancer and bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for hepatitis B, finding that the evidence does not support a link between his condition and military service. The claim for bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities was remanded for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's bilateral peripheral neuropathy, specifically whether it is related to his military service or his service-connected disabilities.
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