The Board has found that there has not been substantial compliance with the prior remand directives and therefore, the case is being returned to the RO for further development. The Veteran's claims for increased ratings are being remanded due to inadequate posthumous retrospective medical opinions provided by VA examiners.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners' reports were found to be inadequate as they did not address all pertinent evidence of record, including VAMC treatment records and the Veteran’s hearing testimony. The VA examiners also failed to provide a comprehensive analysis regarding the severity of the Veteran's service-connected conditions throughout the entire period on appeal.
- Claimed conditions
- skin cancer, paralysis of the left true vocal cord, non-malignant thyroid nodular disease, status post thyroidectomy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20072280
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,077 · Granted: 25% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 20072280.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's service connection claims for skin cancer and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have been denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions, and the evidence does not support a causal relationship to active military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for special monthly compensation and service connection was denied due to a late filing of the Board Appeal request.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for skin cancer has been dismissed because the Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for skin cancer, an initial rating greater than 10 percent for right knee strain with limitation of flexion, and an initial compensable rating for right knee strain with limitation of extension. The TDIU claim is also remanded.
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