The Veteran's request for a VA examination for his internal hemorrhoids was repeatedly denied due to incarceration. The Board has ordered further attempts to obtain the Veteran’s treatment records from the facilities where he has been incarcerated during the period on appeal, and to arrange an examination if possible.
The deciding factor: The Veteran cannot be transported to a VA facility for examination due to his incarceration status, and there is no indication that the agency of original jurisdiction had contacted the correctional facility to inquire whether their medical personnel could conduct the examination.
- Claimed conditions
- Internal hemorrhoids
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20039359
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 20039359.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and radiculopathy, left lower extremity (sciatic nerve), while granting service connection for temporomandibular joint (TMJ) strain. The Board also granted a 30 percent rating for bilateral plantar fasciitis.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for several conditions, including PTSD, bilateral pes planus with left plantar calcaneal spur, atopic dermatitis, and left hip trochanteric bursitis. However, the Board granted service connection for asthma due to presumed exposure during Gulf War service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for tension headaches and internal hemorrhoids due to a lack of adequate examination reports, which are necessary to determine the current severity of his service-connected conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for a new VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected digestive disability and for further discussion on the propriety of separate evaluations for each service-connected condition.
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