The Board has decided to remand the case due to a lack of a proper VA examination for lupus, which is necessary to determine if the Veteran's current diagnosis and symptoms are related to his service.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to provide an adequate VA examination that considered all relevant evidence, including the Veteran's lay statements about his symptoms and positive ANA test results.
- Claimed conditions
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), Raynaud's syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- A20015847
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,062 · Granted: 34% (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 A20015847.
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 Veteran's claim for earlier effective date for service connection of Raynaud's syndrome associated with frostbite is denied. The Board found that the issue was not reasonably raised at the time of the December 1986 rating decision.
- Granted
The Veteran's Raynaud's syndrome, which manifested during service and has been continuously pursued since then, is granted an initial disability evaluation of 40 percent effective January 24, 2016.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and increased evaluations due to the need for medical opinions regarding potential exposure to toxins during service.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have Raynaud's syndrome or residuals of a cold weather injury to the extremities, and therefore, service connection for these conditions is denied.
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