The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's cocaine addiction and its relation to his in-service nasal surgery. The AOJ is instructed to obtain an independent medical opinion from a licensed Addiction Medicine Specialist with a pharmacology or forensics background.
The deciding factor: Insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's cocaine addiction have been provided, necessitating further evaluation and clarification.
- Claimed conditions
- cocaine addiction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- July 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20047123
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 20047123.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for cocaine addiction, finding that there was no evidence to support his contention that it was caused by in-service treatment for a nasal bone fracture.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for cocaine addiction, as it relates to his postoperative residuals of nasal bone fracture with scarring. The case was previously denied by the Board and later remanded multiple times due to conflicting opinions from medical experts.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cocaine addiction is not caused or aggravated by his service-connected anxiety disorder.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for cocaine addiction, finding that there was no evidence to support a direct link between his inservice treatment and his current addiction.
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