The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings for his service-connected bilateral lower extremity cold injury residuals is being remanded due to the failure to perform EMG and nerve conduction studies as requested in prior Board decisions.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not comply with a request for EMG and nerve conduction studies, which are necessary to determine the current level of severity of his bilateral lower extremity nerve disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a cold injury, right lower extremity, residuals of a cold injury, left lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20007318
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 hepatitis C and related conditions as they are inextricably intertwined.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for tinnitus was granted, while claims for high blood pressure, prostate condition, left lower extremity, hepatitis C, right lower extremity, and PTSD were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), residuals of a cold injury, and a respiratory disability to include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to insufficient evidence supporting the diagnoses or linking them to the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from engaging in substantially gainful employment, as his last employer was able to accommodate his hearing loss and he has no other evidence showing that his disabilities render him unable to work.
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