The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and increased rating of peripheral vascular disease, type II diabetes mellitus, and bilateral pes planus. The RO is instructed to verify any active service by the Veteran between 1979 and 1981 through DPRIS or another similar federal records repository and obtain any outstanding STRs from that period of service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the RO did not substantially comply with its remand directives regarding verification of the Veteran's active service and obtaining STRs for a specific time frame, leading to a Stegall violation. The RO is now instructed to take these actions.
- Claimed conditions
- Peripheral vascular disease, Type II diabetes mellitus, Bilateral pes planus
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186827
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 granted earlier effective dates of November 5, 2021, for the grants of service connection and eligibility for DEA benefits.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for Type II diabetes mellitus, finding that it is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected unspecified depressive disorder.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that Type II diabetes mellitus and hypertension, which are presumed to have resulted from herbicide exposure during service, contributed substantially to his demise.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an adequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's in-service toxic exposure risk activities, including jet fuel and other fuels, to determine if they contributed to his cause of death.
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