The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions and the need for additional VA treatment records. The Veteran is seeking service connection for lung disability, including calcified granulomata in the left lung, lung nodules, asbestosis, and thyroid disability, including enlarged thyroid, goiter, Hashimoto’s disease, and a follicular adenoma.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the medical opinions were insufficient to determine whether the Veteran's disabilities are related to service, particularly due to the need for additional VA treatment records and further examination.
- Claimed conditions
- lung disability, thyroid disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20068020
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,044 · Granted: 21% (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 20068020.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a failure to provide proper notice of the Veteran's right to a hearing before the AOJ, as required by regulatory and statutory duties.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding private medical records related to asbestos exposure and lung disability. The Veteran is requested to provide information about his private physician and for VA to obtain relevant records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims of service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II; a heart disability; hypertension; and a lung disability due to insufficient evidence. The Veteran is currently diagnosed with these conditions and reported symptoms during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for compensation benefits for a lung disability and TDIU are being remanded due to errors in the initial adjudication process.
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