The Board has remanded both the DIC benefits pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1151 and service connection for the cause of death claims due to insufficient medical opinions addressing the appellant's contentions regarding timely diagnosis and treatment of the Veteran’s UTI, sepsis, and other conditions.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the provided medical opinions were inadequate as they did not specifically address the appellant's contentions regarding timely diagnosis and treatment of the Veteran’s UTI, sepsis, and other conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diabetes mellitus, type II, residuals of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, osteoarthritis of the right shoulder, incisional hernia of the abdomen, gunshot wound to the right arm, gunshot scars of the abdomen and distal right arm, degenerative spondylosis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 13, 2020
- Citation
- 20033254
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 20033254.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the claims for sleep apnea and an increased disability rating for diabetes mellitus, type II.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD. The decision finds that the Veteran's diabetes mellitus, type II is proximately due to his service-connected PTSD.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted on a secondary basis with obesity serving as an intermediate step due to service-connected low back disability, sciatica, and right shoulder disabilities.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II and left arm tremors. Service connection for right hand tremors is also granted. The Veteran's tinnitus claim was denied as there is no current diagnosis of tinnitus.
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