The Board has decided to remand the case due to outstanding VA and private treatment records, as well as an additional VA medical opinion is needed. The appellant contends that VA failed to diagnose and treat her husband's vitamin B12 deficiency, which led to permanent damage of his cells/nerves and caused or aggravated his dementia, leading to his death.
The deciding factor: The Board found there are outstanding records that have not been associated with the claims file and additional relevant records have been received since a previous VA medical opinion. Therefore, an additional VA medical opinion is necessary to determine the nature and cause of the Veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- vitamin B12 deficiency, dementia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20074840
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for dementia, finding that it was aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected hearing loss disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for dementia, transient ischemic attacks (TIA), and stress, diagnosed as neurocognitive disorder, to secure adequate medical opinions addressing secondary service connection.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for dementia, finding no evidence linking the Veteran's dementia to his service-connected bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for dementia to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors and obtain additional medical evidence.
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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.