The Board has remanded four claims for further development due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding the relationship between service, including exposure to herbicide agents, and the Veteran's claimed conditions. The claims include thyroid problem, lung condition, hypertension, arthritis, and liver condition.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations were not conducted or are insufficient to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed conditions, particularly regarding their relationship to service and exposure to herbicide agents.
- Claimed conditions
- Thyroid problem, Lung condition, Hypertension (HTN), Arthritis, Liver condition
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2021
- Citation
- 21002817
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 21002817.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a liver condition was denied in an August 1978 rating decision. The Board found that the evidence did not show any current residuals of the liver condition from service and that his current symptoms were unrelated to his service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for hypertension, as it is related to his service-connected major depressive disorder. The VA examiner's opinion was inadequate and less probative due to its failure to provide a direct service connection opinion or an aggravation opinion regarding the Veteran's hypertension.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his service-connected hypertension and somatic symptom disorder are denied. The Board has remanded the claims for cardiovascular, peripheral artery disease, and lung cancer with emphysema.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error in previous examinations, requiring additional information on right shoulder ROM measurements without medication effects.
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