The Board awarded a TDIU effective July 1, 2007. The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) vacated and remanded the matter due to an unclear opinion in a March 2016 VA examination report.
The deciding factor: The Court found that the Board had erred in failing to return the March 2016 VA examination report for further clarification because it was unclear how the examiner concluded that unemployability would not have occurred prior to July 2007, when the Veteran had appeared to have been on prescription narcotics well before this period.
- Claimed conditions
- unspecified
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 30, 2020
- Citation
- 20007840
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 has remanded the claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilities because it is inextricably intertwined with the issue of reopening service connection for a low back disability, which was previously remanded. The TDIU claim will be reconsidered after the low back disability claim has been adjudicated.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU claim is remanded due to its potential impact on the service connection and increased rating claims, which are still under development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is being remanded due to the need for additional information and development.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals for increased ratings for herniated nucleus pulposus and a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU). As a result, the Board dismissed these appeals.
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