The Board has granted service connection for upper left, lower left, upper right, and lower right extremity peripheral neuropathy due to active duty service. The evidence is in equipoise as to whether these conditions are related to Agent Orange exposure during service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion was in equipoise with the private physicians' opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's peripheral neuropathy, and thus the Board granted service connection based on active duty service without presumptive exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- upper left extremity peripheral neuropathy, lower left extremity peripheral neuropathy, upper right extremity peripheral neuropathy, lower right extremity peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20081261
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,217 · Granted: 46% (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 20081261.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 determined that the Veteran does not have current disabilities of bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, diabetes, or other claimed conditions. The claims are being remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy as the evidence did not show a causal relationship between the disability and active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for heart disability, diabetes mellitus (type II), lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and erectile dysfunction are being remanded due to the need to address other toxic exposure theories not previously considered.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for GERD and denied service connection for all other conditions, including lung disability, upper extremity disorders, lower extremity peripheral neuropathies, kidney stones, benign prostate hypertrophy, low back disorder, hip disorders, and knee disorders. The Veteran's claims are based on presumed exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam.
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