The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for HIV and TDIU due to an insufficient VA examination, specifically regarding whether HIV is proximately due to or the result of military sexual trauma. The examiner's opinion needs clarification.
The deciding factor: The Board found the August 2019 VA Contract Examiner's opinion inadequate as it did not address the relationship between in-service MST and subsequent development of HIV, which was requested by the Board in its remand directive.
- Claimed conditions
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 19, 2020
- Citation
- 20067526
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 service connection for HIV, secondary to his PTSD with anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder, was granted. Additionally, an increased rating of 100 percent for PTSD was granted from February 17, 2021.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for lichen sclerosis of the penis and denied an effective date prior to September 22, 2021, for the award of service connection for HIV as well as an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for HIV.
- Granted
The Board granted an initial 10 percent rating for HIV, effective from April 26, 2022.
- Denied
The Board denied entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, as there was no evidence linking the Veteran's HIV to his military service.
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