The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions and further examination.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide a diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy or ataxia, which are necessary for determining service connection. The examiner also could not address Gulf War exposure without speculation.
- Claimed conditions
- joint problems, ataxia, peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities, peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20073419
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 20073419.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the cases of hearing loss and peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities due to duty-to-assist errors. The Veteran's claims will be reconsidered with additional medical opinions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy and ataxia due to inadequate VA medical opinions. The claims are being returned for further examination and opinion.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for alcohol dependence and peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities, both secondary to service-connected conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities, erectile dysfunction, cataracts, residuals of a stroke, hypertension, and an acquired psychiatric disorder. However, tinnitus was granted.
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