The Veteran's left eye corneal stoma scar resulted in a visual acuity of 20/50 uncorrected near vision, and the Board has granted an initial 10 percent rating. The appeal for service connection for back and bilateral hip conditions is remanded.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners did not provide opinions regarding whether the Veteran's back and hip conditions are related to his active service based on the lack of documented evidence, which was improper.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Eye Corneal Stoma Scar, Back Condition, Bilateral Hip Condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20036853
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 20036853.
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 August 1996 rating decision denied service connection for a back condition due to the claim being considered not well-grounded, as there was no current disability and no evidence of in-service injury or disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error in the VA examination for service connection of the back condition and requires an addendum opinion to address whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's back disability began in service or was caused by any incident of service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's erectile dysfunction is rated at the maximum noncompensable level. The Board has remanded the issue of service connection for a bilateral hip condition due to insufficient evidence in the prior VA examination.
- Granted
The Board has granted effective dates of August 12, 2024 for the awards of a 50% rating for sinusitis and a 40% rating for intervertebral disc syndrome of the lumbar spine. Service connection for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve was also granted effective on that date.
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