The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding negligence in referral and post-operative care, as well as the potential unforeseeability of blindness resulting from cataract surgery.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the need for additional medical opinions regarding the cause of the Veteran's left eye blindness and whether VA's actions were negligent or unforeseeable.
- Claimed conditions
- blindness of the left eye
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19195184
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 19195184.
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.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection of blindness was dismissed. The appeals for hypertension, diabetes rating, and TDIU were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors and conflicting medical opinions. The VA will obtain a new examination to determine if the Veteran has current residuals of frostbite related to his in-service exposure, as well as an addendum opinion on whether his tension headaches are related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for blindness of the left eye, which is related to his service-connected lagophthalmos, has been remanded due to an inaccurate opinion from a previous VA examination. The case will be reviewed and re-evaluated with new evidence and an updated medical opinion.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed all service connection claims for various conditions as a result of exposure to herbicides due to the Veteran's death.
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