The Board has remanded the cases for further development, including obtaining service personnel records and verifying herbicide exposure. An addendum medical opinion is needed to address whether the Veteran's neck condition is related to his active service or caused by or aggravated by military service, as well as whether it is proximately due to or the result of his service-connected degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine.
The deciding factor: The Board found that an addendum medical opinion was needed to address the relationship between the Veteran's neck condition and his active service, including whether it is related to his service-connected degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine.
- Claimed conditions
- neck condition, skin cancer, pancreatitis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2020
- Citation
- 20066828
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 Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection, higher ratings, and earlier effective dates, as well as dismissed his claim for a TDIU.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including a back condition, right and left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, neck condition, upper extremity radiculopathy, bilateral flatfoot, right foot plantar fasciitis, and right ankle pain, as the current evidence is inadequate to make a decision.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a back condition, neck condition, bilateral hearing loss, and an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include insomnia disorder. The claims for the remaining conditions were remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches as secondary to the Veteran's asthma with sinusitis, but denied service connection for a low back sprain and plantar fasciitis. The claim for a neck condition was dismissed.
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