The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA medical opinion regarding the Veteran's bilateral peripheral neuropathy, which is presumed to be related to his service exposure to herbicide agents during active duty in Vietnam. The claim will be reviewed with a new examination and opinion.
The deciding factor: The previous VA examiner did not provide sufficient rationale for their conclusion that the Veteran’s condition was less likely than not caused by his service due to lack of evaluation on cause, and thus remanded for an adequate medical opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the feet
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2020
- Citation
- 20080005
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,874 · Granted: 33% (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 20080005.
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 bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the hands and feet, finding a relationship to herbicide agent exposure during the Vietnam War era.
- Denied
Service connection for bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the feet and hands, claimed as secondary to herbicide agent exposure, is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the feet is found to be related to his in-service exposure to Agent Orange, and service connection for this condition is granted.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for prostate disability, bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the hands, and bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the feet. The Veteran's claims were not supported by evidence showing a nexus between his current conditions and active service or herbicide exposure.
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