The Veteran's claim for service connection for vocal cord paralysis, including as due to exposure at Camp Lejeune, is being remanded for further development and an opinion regarding the etiology of his condition.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner needs to determine if the Veteran's vocal cord paralysis is related to his military service, specifically his exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Claimed conditions
- vocal cord paralysis
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 4, 2021
- Citation
- A21016313
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 A21016313.
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 claims of service connection for adult-onset Still's disease, vocal cord paralysis, scars, anterior neck, left knee arthritis, and right knee arthritis due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The Veteran is presumed to have had these conditions during his military service.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a compensable rating for papillary thyroid carcinoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but granted service connection for vocal cord paralysis and odynophagia as additional residual disabilities due to the service-connected nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal is remanded to obtain the original signed consent document for a neck surgery in March 2022. The veteran claims VA negligence caused vocal cord paralysis and dysphonia.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for vocal cord paralysis status post thyroidectomy has been dismissed due to her death.
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