The Veteran's skin condition, diagnosed as discoid lupus erythematosus, is being remanded for further development due to the need for an adequate VA examination and medical opinion regarding its etiology. The examiner must consider whether the condition is related to in-service exposure to herbicide agents or sun exposure while serving in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that a remand is necessary as the current medical evidence does not adequately address the nature and etiology of the Veteran's skin condition, particularly regarding its relationship to service and exposure to herbicide agents.
- Claimed conditions
- Discoid lupus erythematosus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19195284
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 19195284.
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 Board granted service connection for systemic lupus erythematosus, discoid lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome as proximately due to service connected systemic lupus erythematosus, and fibromyalgia as proximately due to service connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Board also granted restoration of a 30 percent disability rating for temporomandibular joint disorder.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected conditions did not prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to December 30, 2013.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for discoid lupus erythematosus and a skin disorder (acute frequent dermatitis with systemic arthritis) as they are not shown to be related to active service, including exposure to herbicides.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected discoid lupus erythematosus did not cause or contribute to his primary and contributory causes of death, including sepsis, anemia, pneumonia, renal failure, COPD, and AVM.
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