The Board has remanded two issues: service connection for a headache disability and service connection for numbness in the feet. The Veteran's claims are being returned to the RO for further development.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the opinions provided by VA examiners were inadequate as they did not consider the Veteran’s lay statements regarding symptom onset and persistence, which should not be disregarded solely due to the absence of contemporaneous medical evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- Headache disability, Bilateral foot disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20070079
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a separate 50 percent initial rating for insomnia as secondary to tinnitus, and denied an increased rating for tinnitus. The Board also granted service connection for headache disability, low back disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, cervical spine disability, and right upper extremity radiculopathy.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death while it was pending.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a lung disability and a bilateral foot disability based on new evidence, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, and colon cancer.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for pancreatic cancer with cholangitis under the PACT Act, and for right and left upper and lower extremity neuropathy as secondary to pancreatic cancer. The claims for a headache disability and obstructive sleep apnea were denied.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.