The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to exposure to herbicides, including Agent Orange. The AOJ is instructed to attempt to obtain his complete service treatment records and verify his reported exposure during his time in Germany.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to locate all of the Veteran's service treatment records, which may contain pertinent information regarding his claims for service connection due to exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease, psoriatic arthritis, right hip degenerative joint disease and rheumatoid arthritis with acetabular cyst status post total hip replacement, compromised immune system, high blood pressure, prostate cancer status post prostatectomy, type II diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2020
- Citation
- 20021490
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 20021490.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for psoriatic arthritis and drug-induced hepatitis liver disease, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for hypertension, atherosclerosis, and diabetes mellitus; granted service connection for erectile dysfunction and skin cancer; and restored the 10 percent rating for hypertension.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and systemic lupus erythematosus as there was no evidence of onset during active service or etiological relationship to an in-service injury, event, or disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 20 percent for type II diabetes mellitus to address a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding VA not requesting private treatment records.
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