The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for polycythemia and ITP due to exposure to herbicide agents (Agent Orange) during his military service. The appeal is pending as the Veteran has not provided sufficient medical evidence to establish a direct relationship between his conditions and service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the current medical opinions were insufficient to support the claims, particularly given the lack of review of the complete claims file by the providers.
- Claimed conditions
- polycythemia, immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19195186
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 352 · Granted: 37% (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 19195186.
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 claim for service connection for migraines (headaches) is granted. The claim for service connection for polycythemia and sleep apnea is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's polycythemia requires phlebotomy six or more times during a 12 month period, and thus an initial evaluation of 60 percent is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claim for service connection for eczema, as secondary to his service-connected polycythemia, needs further examination and opinion. The case is therefore REMANDED.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection for obstructive sleep apnea is granted. The increased rating claim for PTSD in excess of 30 percent is denied. The matter of service connection for polycythemia as secondary to service-connected obstructive sleep apnea is remanded.
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