The Board has denied service connection for fatty infiltration of the liver and hypogonadism, finding that there is no evidence to support a relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's service. The Board also remanded the issue of service connection for inflammatory polyarthropathy/rheumatoid arthritis, claiming it as secondary to hypothyroidism.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for inflammatory polyarthropathy/rheumatoid arthritis is being remanded due to inadequate examination and need for a new opinion on whether his condition may be related to his service.
The deciding factor: There is no competent evidence linking the Veteran’s fatty infiltration of the liver and hypogonadism to his service, including presumed exposure to herbicide agents. The Board found that there was insufficient medical evidence to establish a relationship between these conditions and service.,The inflammatory polyarthropathy/rheumatoid arthritis claim requires further examination as the previous VA examination did not provide sufficient information on whether the Veteran's condition may be related to his service.
- Claimed conditions
- Liver Condition, to include fatty infiltration of the liver, Hypogonadism, Inflammatory polyarthropathy/rheumatoid arthritis (claimed as secondary to hypothyroidism)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19188656
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,680 · Granted: 24% (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 19188656.
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
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