The Board has found that there was insufficient medical evidence to support the claim and has ordered further development, specifically obtaining a full consent form for the Veteran's hernia repair surgery.
The deciding factor: There is insufficient medical evidence to determine if the Veteran’s additional disabilities are due to carelessness, negligence, or lack of proper skill by VA practitioners.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a perforated colon, hernias, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2020
- Citation
- 20068457
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 961 · Granted: 20% (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 20068457.
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 Veteran's claim for bilateral hearing loss is denied as there is no evidence of a current disability.,The Veteran's claims for hernias and jaw pain are denied due to lack of current disabilities related to the conditions.,The Veteran's claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as alcohol use disorder) is denied as it is not service-connected.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a psychiatric disability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and denied service connection for hernias. The issues of service connection for encephalopathy and special monthly compensation based on aid and attendance/housebound status were remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for erectile dysfunction, hypertension, cervical spine degenerative arthritis, right and left tennis elbow, left shoulder arthritis, left hand neuropathy, right leg neuropathy, and left wrist carpal tunnel syndrome has been granted. The PACT Act expanded the presumptive exposure for hypertension to include veterans who were exposed to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for residuals of abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, including hernias, chronic stomach pain, and open sores is being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors and legal issues.
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