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
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 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 the Veteran's claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his active service or any related exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to conflicting opinions regarding service connection for peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, and skin disabilities related to herbicide exposure.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased evaluations and service connection were dismissed due to his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran does not have a current respiratory disability other than sleep apnea. The claims for abdominal pain, type I diabetes, peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities, and an immune disorder are remanded due to a duty to assist error.
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