The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's eye disabilities, specifically pseudophakia and aphakia. The VA is instructed to obtain additional evidence from the appellant and provide a new opinion by a VA examiner.
The deciding factor: The VA needs to obtain further medical opinions addressing the etiology of the Veteran's diagnosed conditions (pseudophakia and aphakia) as per the September 2018 remand directives.
- Claimed conditions
- retinitis pigmentosa, pseudophakia, aphakia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19189182
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 19189182.
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 an earlier effective date of January 3, 2001, for service connection for retinitis pigmentosa based on the re-evaluation of previously unassociated service treatment records.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a left eye disorder, including amblyopia and other conditions, as there was no evidence of aggravation beyond their natural progression during the Veteran's periods of active duty.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an eye disability, including dry eye syndrome, pseudophakia, and glaucoma, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to his active duty service or a service-connected condition.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for an eye disability, granted a 70% rating for PTSD, and granted TDIU due to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.
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