The Board granted the petitions to reopen claims for service connection for residuals of cold weather injuries involving the hands and feet but denied service connection for all other conditions.
The deciding factor: The most probative evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran's current disabilities were related to in-service exposure to extreme cold or had their onset during active service, with the exception of the reopened claims for residuals of cold weather injuries involving the hands and feet.
- Claimed conditions
- Residuals of cold weather injury involving the left hand, Residuals of cold weather injury involving the right hand, Residuals of cold weather injury involving the left foot, Residuals of cold weather injury involving the right foot, Cold weather injury of the left upper extremity (claimed as frozen left hand), Cold weather injury of the right upper extremity (claimed as frozen right hand), Cold weather injury of the left lower extremity (claimed as frozen left foot), Cold weather injury of the right lower extremity (claimed as frozen right foot), Peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, Peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 1, 2020
- Citation
- 20063971
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 20063971.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including his bilateral lower extremity neuropathy due to diabetes mellitus, have resulted in loss of use of both lower extremities. The Board has granted eligibility for specially adapted housing and dismissed the claim for a special home adaptation grant as moot.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty to assist error, requiring clarification on whether the Veteran's left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy is early-onset and if it is related to Agent Orange exposure during service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for peripheral neuropathy of both the right and left lower extremities, finding that it is at least as likely as not caused by or aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left upper and lower extremities due to herbicide agent exposure, as there is a pre-decisional duty to assist error that occurred prior to the date of the AOJ decision on appeal.
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