The Board has remanded this case due to the need for additional development, specifically providing the Veteran with the examiner's curriculum vitae.
The deciding factor: The Veteran raised the issue of an examiner’s competency to offer a medical opinion and the Board must comply with the duty to assist by providing the necessary information about the examiner's qualifications.
- Claimed conditions
- Impairment of the seventh cranial nerve damage
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 26, 2021
- Citation
- 21004124
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 21004124.
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 impairment of the seventh cranial nerve damage condition has been rated at 20 percent since January 29, 2010. The Board found that his condition more nearly approximates severe incomplete paralysis and denied a rating in excess of 20 percent.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for impairment of the seventh cranial nerve damage is being remanded due to concerns about the competency of the January 2020 VA examiner.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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