The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient opinions regarding whether the Veteran's vocal cord damage is related to his September 2, 2010 coronary artery bypass grafting at VA. The RO must obtain prior treatment records and forward the file for an adequate opinion on this issue.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the opinions provided were inadequate and requested additional information from the Veteran's medical records and a new examination to determine if the Veteran's vocal cord damage is related to his September 2, 2010 coronary artery bypass grafting at VA.
- Claimed conditions
- vocal cord damage
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 2, 2020
- Citation
- 20000260
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (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 20000260.
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 remands the claim for a throat condition to schedule an appropriate VA compensation examination to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed throat condition.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions and denied entitlement to higher initial ratings for existing disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hypothyroidism, vocal cord damage, dry mouth disability, and dysphagia as the evidence did not show exposure to herbicide agents or other presumptive conditions during active duty.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to new evidence received, and requests an addendum opinion regarding his esophageal cancer.
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