The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for left and right lower extremity varicose veins due to inadequate medical opinions and incomplete service treatment records.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the provided medical opinions were insufficient and that VA did not have a complete record of the Veteran's service treatment history, which is necessary to determine the etiology of his varicose veins.
- Claimed conditions
- left lower extremity varicose veins, right lower extremity varicose veins
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 10, 2020
- Citation
- 20072604
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 Board denied the veteran's claims for higher initial ratings and remanded several issues related to his lower extremity varicose veins, TDIU, and hearing loss.
- Partly granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates for the award of service connection for left and right lower extremity varicose veins, depression, OSA, and headaches, but denied service connection for left and right arm chronic venous insufficiency. The increased rating claim for headaches was dismissed.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the appellant's eligibility for direct payment of attorney fees based on a total rating for compensation purposes based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, but denied it for increased ratings for certain conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for right lower extremity varicose veins, finding that June 13, 2023 is the earliest possible effective date.
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