The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate examination and incomplete reasoning in the previous decision. The Veteran's eye disorders are being reviewed again for direct service connection, secondary service connection, and herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide a rationale for his conclusions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's eye disabilities and their relationship to service-connected conditions or herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral dry eye syndrome, Choroidal nevus (retinopathy) of the left eye
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 8, 2020
- Citation
- 20065422
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,170 · Granted: 38% (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 20065422.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral dry eye syndrome is rated at a 20 percent rating under Diagnostic Code 6025, the maximum available for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal for service connection for alopecia areata is dismissed. The Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss and bilateral dry eye syndrome with vision impairment scars are remanded due to a duty to assist error.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the grant of service connection for bilateral dry eye syndrome was improper due to clear and unmistakable error (CUE), and thus, the appeal is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including inadequate VA examinations and ineffective assignment of an effective date. A new VA examination is required to assess the current severity of his service-connected bilateral dry eye syndrome and cataracts, with a focus on whether a separate compensable rating for dry eye syndrome is warranted.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.