The Board has remanded several issues related to the Veteran's service connection claims, including reopening of claims for pulmonary embolism and fainting spells, systemic lupus and arthritis, bilateral foot disability, respiratory disability, lumbar spine disability, and rheumatoid arthritis. The VA is instructed to obtain all relevant medical records from the Veteran’s Naval Reserve service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's periods of active duty, active duty for training, and inactive duty for training with the Naval Reserve have not been verified and requested additional records.
- Claimed conditions
- pulmonary embolism, fainting spells, systemic lupus, arthritis, bilateral foot disability (pes planus), respiratory disability (chronic cough), lumbar spine disability (degenerative disc disease), rheumatoid arthritis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19191387
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,645 · Granted: 19% (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 19191387.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's rheumatoid arthritis disability rating is being remanded for additional development due to significant weight loss and anemia.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and entitlement to DIC due to a failure to obtain a medical opinion prior to the rating decision on appeal regarding whether the Veteran's arthritis was related to his period of active service, and if so, whether it contributed to his death.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for pulmonary embolism as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected status post spigelian herniorrhaphy, finding that the surgery increased her risk of developing a pulmonary embolism.
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