The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims file is incomplete, specifically missing documents related to his March 2012 claim for benefits and July 2013 Waiver of Review. The VA must attempt to obtain these documents or provide a formal finding memorandum of unavailability.
The deciding factor: The VA needs to locate and associate the missing documents with the Veteran's claims file as they are necessary to properly assess his service connection claims.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, type 2, headaches, sinus condition, acquired psychiatric disorder, low back condition, seizure disorder
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 2, 2020
- Citation
- 20076507
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 20076507.
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 granted service connection for headaches and increased ratings for left shoulder rotator cuff tear, right shoulder rotator cuff tear, hypertension, and left and right leg restless leg syndrome. The Board denied a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder.
- Dismissed
The appeals for restoration of ratings and for a higher disability rating were dismissed as the April 2025 rating decision did not make final decisions on these issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of October 1, 2021, for service connection for migraine headaches and seizure disorder but denied the same for PTSD with TBI.
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