The Board has remanded the claims for low back disability, sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, and migraine headaches due to their potential connection to service in the Gulf War theater of operations. The VA is required to provide a new examination to determine if these conditions are related to undiagnosed illness or medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the previous examinations were inadequate and remanded for further evaluation, particularly regarding the presumptive service connection for Gulf War exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- low back disability, sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, migraine headaches
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19191442
Veterans Law Judge
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 19191442.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for additional development due to incomplete medical records and insufficient opinions regarding the relationship between service, including a stick injury in England, and current left eye disability (including amblyopia and cataracts) as well as migraine headaches.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for asthma and a 10 percent rating based on multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities were dismissed. The claim of entitlement to a compensable rating for eczema was denied, while the claim of entitlement to allergic rhinitis was not addressed as it pertained to different issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found a pre-decisional duty to assist error and has ordered the case back to the AOJ for proper notice regarding the Veteran's right to a hearing.
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