The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for a low back disability, any separate and additional respiratory illness as due to undiagnosed illness or MUCMI, and COPD. The remand is required due to inadequate VA examinations and the need to obtain additional medical records.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the February 2016 VA examination for the Veteran's low back disability, COPD, allergies, asthma, and any separate and additional respiratory illness was inadequate as it did not consider the Veteran's prior medical history or address whether his conditions were an undiagnosed illness or a MUCMI with unknown etiology.
- Claimed conditions
- low back disability, allergies, rhinitis, sinusitis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 6, 2021
- Citation
- 21040642
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 21040642.
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 respiratory disability, including asthma and COPD, is denied as service connection is not warranted due to the condition being solely attributed to smoking.
- Denied
The Veteran's rhinitis and gastric ulcer with hiatal hernia were evaluated, but the Board found that neither condition warranted a higher rating.,For rhinitis, the evidence did not show greater than 50 percent obstruction of both nasal passages or complete obstruction on one side. For gastric ulcer with hiatal hernia, symptoms were described as infrequent and mild.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the cases of sleep apnea and asthma due to a failure to provide proper notice for a hearing.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for asthma and a 10 percent rating based on multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities were dismissed. The claim of entitlement to a compensable rating for eczema was denied, while the claim of entitlement to allergic rhinitis was not addressed as it pertained to different issues.
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