The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for bilateral upper and lower peripheral neuropathy due to presumed exposure to Agent Orange. A VA examination is required to determine if the Veteran's peripheral neuropathy is more consistent with early-onset or delayed-onset, and whether it is related to his presumed exposure to herbicide agents.
The deciding factor: The Board found that a VA examination is needed to clarify the type of peripheral neuropathy (early-onset vs. delayed-onset) and its relation to presumed Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- right upper extremity (RUE) peripheral neuropathy, left upper extremity (LUE) peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity (RLE) peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity (LLE) peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19192861
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,050 · Granted: 23% (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 19192861.
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 Veteran's SMC(l) was granted based on his service-connected prostate cancer, metastatic cancer of the back, ribs, and pelvis, and metastatic cancer of the lymphatic system. The Board found that he has additional disabilities independently ratable at 50 percent or more, including RUE peripheral neuropathy, diabetes with erectile dysfunction, LLE peripheral neuropathy, sciatic nerve, RLE peripheral neuropathy, femoral nerve, left knee arthritis, right knee arthritis, and right clavicle fracture residuals. The Veteran is now entitled to SMC(m 1/2) based on these additional disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's migraines, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and peripheral neuropathy in both lower extremities are granted service connection effective October 5, 2016.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral lower and upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, finding no current diagnosis of these conditions in the record.
- Denied
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions were denied. A rating of 100 percent was granted for schizophrenia, effective October 28, 2019.
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