The Veteran's skin conditions, including urticarial-type lesions and seborrheic keratosis, are being remanded for further examination as the VA examiner did not adequately address whether these conditions are related to his military service, particularly his exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam. The Veteran's basal cell carcinoma is also being remanded.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner failed to provide a thorough opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's skin disorders and his military service, specifically his exposure to herbicide agents.
- Claimed conditions
- urticarial-type lesions, basal cell carcinoma, seborrheic keratosis
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 22, 2020
- Citation
- 20004853
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 claims for service connection for supraventricular arrhythmias, basal cell carcinoma, kidney stones, and COPD as the AOJ failed to substantially comply with prior remand directives.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for basal cell carcinoma and a higher initial disability rating of 70 percent for other specified trauma-and-stressor-related disorder, while denying increased ratings for lumbosacral strain, right lower radiculopathy, bilateral hearing loss, chronic rhinitis, tension headaches, and mitral valve prolapse.
- Partly granted
The Board granted reconsideration of the issues of entitlement to service connection for basal cell carcinoma, an acquired psychiatric disorder, and bilateral upper and lower extremity diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The claims for these conditions were previously denied but are now being readjudicated due to new evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for seborrheic keratosis and seborrheic dermatitis for further development, specifically to obtain an addendum medical opinion regarding the synergistic effect of all the Veteran's TERAs during his active-duty service.
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