The Board has remanded the claims for diabetes and thyroid disability due to duty-to-assist errors. The Veteran is seeking service connection for these conditions based on exposure to asbestos in the motor pool and contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
The deciding factor: Duty-to-assist errors occurred prior to the October 2019 SOC, requiring additional development of claims related to herbicide-agent exposure in other locations and medical opinions regarding the relationship between diabetes and asbestos exposure, as well as thyroid disability and contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, thyroid disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 3, 2020
- Citation
- A20017903
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 hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for right foot, left elbow, left hip, left ankle, and diabetes mellitus to obtain additional medical evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for cervical spine condition, diabetes mellitus, heart condition, lumbar spine condition, and urinary frequency and voiding condition as there was no evidence of a current diagnosis or in-service incurrence or aggravation.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded the claims for sinus disability, bilateral hip disability, right shoulder disability, hypertension, sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus, skin disability, back disability, bilateral neurological disability of the upper extremities, and bilateral neurological disability of the lower extremities.
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