The Veteran's claims for urinary disability, skin disability, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction are being remanded due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their relationship to service or service-connected disabilities. The Veteran's claim for generalized joint pain is also being remanded as the VA examinations did not address his reported elbow, wrist, and ankle pain.,The Veteran's claim for skin disability is being remanded because the VA examination did not provide an opinion on whether any current skin disability began during service or was related to exposure to environmental toxins in Southwest Asia.
The deciding factor: Medical opinions are needed regarding the relationship of the Veteran's claimed conditions to his military service and/or service-connected disabilities. The medical opinions should address whether any current urinary, skin, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, and generalized joint pain (to include elbow, wrist, and ankle pain) disability is related to service or service-connected disabilities.,The VA examination did not provide an opinion on the etiology of the Veteran's current skin disability. Therefore, a new medical opinion is needed regarding whether any current skin disability began during service or was related to exposure to environmental toxins in Southwest Asia.
- Claimed conditions
- Urinary Disability, Skin Disability, Hypertension, Erectile Dysfunction, Generalized Joint Pain
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 6, 2020
- Citation
- 20071912
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 denied a compensable rating for erectile dysfunction and a higher rating for left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy with muscle weakness, but granted an earlier effective date for the 60 percent disability rating for thrombosis, TIA or cerebral infarction with impairment of sphincter control and voiding dysfunction, and for service connection for pharynx and/or larynx and/or swallowing conditions residuals.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and hypertension, to include as secondary to left orchiectomy, for further development in accordance with the PACT Act.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
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