The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining an addendum VA medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's lung granulomas.
The deciding factor: The October 2019 VA examiner did not provide a sufficient rationale for their opinions and failed to consider alternative causes of the Veteran’s lung granulomas.
- Claimed conditions
- spondylosis of cervical spine, granuloma of the lung
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 5, 2021
- Citation
- 21006771
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 21006771.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for an addendum medical opinion regarding the Veteran's granuloma of the lung, which is considered a current disability and may be related to his active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for spondylosis of cervical spine and degenerative disc disease of lumbar spine due to VA's failure to provide proper notice regarding obtaining treatment records from chiropractors and primary care physicians. The Veteran is also required to provide completed releases for these providers.
- Denied
The Board found no evidence of a current disability for the claimed granuloma of the lung and denied service connection. For hypertension, the Board noted that while there were some elevated blood pressure readings during service, no diagnosis was made at that time. The Veteran's post-service treatment records indicate he has been diagnosed with hypertension since 2008. Therefore, the claim for hypertension is remanded to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether it is more likely than not related to service.
- Denied
The VA denied the veteran's claims for an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and service connection for spondylosis of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine.
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