The Board has remanded the claims for COPD, chronic kidney disease, and asthma due to a lack of compliance with previous directives. The Veteran's service records indicate he was an Atomic Demolition Munitions (ADM) specialist at Fort Belvoir from May 1969 until January 1970. VA must attempt to obtain any radiation exposure records for the Veteran and provide them to the Under Secretary for Health for a dose estimate.
The deciding factor: The claims are remanded due to incomplete compliance with previous directives, specifically regarding the Veteran's service as an ADM specialist at Fort Belvoir where he may have been exposed to ionizing radiation.
- Claimed conditions
- COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), emphysema, chronic kidney disease, asthma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 3, 2020
- Citation
- 20037915
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 20037915.
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 respiratory disability, including asthma and COPD, is denied as service connection is not warranted due to the condition being solely attributed to smoking.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the cases of sleep apnea and asthma due to a failure to provide proper notice for a hearing.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed as the appellant withdrew their request for a hearing and to continue with the appeal.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for asthma and a 10 percent rating based on multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities were dismissed. The claim of entitlement to a compensable rating for eczema was denied, while the claim of entitlement to allergic rhinitis was not addressed as it pertained to different issues.
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