The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to a lack of VA medical evidence and an inadequate statement of reasons or bases. The case will be remanded to obtain additional VA treatment records, conduct new examinations, and provide opinions on the relationship between the Veteran's conditions and his presumed in-service herbicide agent exposure.
The deciding factor: The Court found that the Board erred by failing to address a reasonably-raised theory of secondary service connection for pre-diabetes and its impact on bilateral upper and lower extremities peripheral neuropathy.
- Claimed conditions
- pre-diabetes, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 24, 2020
- Citation
- 20006088
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for all the claimed conditions as they are not related to active service.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew all pending appeals, and the Board has no jurisdiction to review these issues.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for prostate cancer, but remanded the claims for type II diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, hypertension, and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for pre-diabetes, cholecystectomy, a liver disability (non-alcoholic fatty liver), lung disability (pleural effusion), and an acquired psychiatric disorder (major depressive disorder and/or PTSD) due to lack of evidence supporting a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
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