The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development and a need for further examination and medical opinion regarding the Veteran's fistula in ano and/or impairment of sphincter control associated with internal and external hemorrhoids.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the need for substantial compliance with previous remand directives, which has not been met. The case requires another VA examination to address the specified evidence from the adjudicative history.
- Claimed conditions
- fistula in ano, impairment of sphincter control
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20067374
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 Board granted service connection for voiding dysfunction and impairment of sphincter control, both as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected degenerative arthritis of the spine L5-S1 with bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further examination as the Veteran failed to attend scheduled VA examinations without good cause.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's left wrist degenerative arthritis, migraines, bilateral hearing loss, eye disability, and sciatica of the right lower extremity. However, it granted a 40 percent rating for back disability, service connection for erectile dysfunction secondary to the back disability, and special monthly compensation based on loss of use of a creative organ.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased disability ratings for sleep apnea and impairment of sphincter control, granted a rating of 60 percent for impairment of sphincter control from March 6, 2010 to November 6, 2019, and granted an initial rating of 30 percent for left foot heel spurs from June 12, 2003 to January 31, 2016.
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