The Board has remanded the cases due to uncertainty regarding the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents and whether he served within the territorial sea of Vietnam, which could affect his eligibility for presumptive service connection. The VA is instructed to verify these details and provide a medical opinion on the relationship between the Veteran's conditions and his service.
The deciding factor: The Board found uncertainty regarding the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents due to conflicting information from previous requests to the JSRRC, and whether he served within the territorial sea of Vietnam, which could affect his eligibility for presumptive service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus type II (diabetes), peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 13, 2021
- Citation
- 21021648
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 21021648.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diabetes mellitus type II, and bilateral lower extremity neuropathy. The Veteran's cause of death due to these conditions is also recognized.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and heart failure have been granted on a presumptive basis due to exposure to herbicide agents during service. The claim for glaucoma has been denied as not related to service-connected conditions or in-service herbicide agent exposure.,Service connection for heart failure is granted secondary to service-connected coronary artery disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and peripheral neuropathy due to a duty to assist error in failing to obtain relevant exposure information. The AOJ is instructed to conduct additional development as outlined in the decision.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes is granted as service-connected due to in-service herbicide agent exposure. The Board finds the pre-decisional record inadequate for evaluating certain Parkinson's disease residuals and remands for further examination.
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