The Veteran's left eye diabetic retinopathy is granted. The Board finds that an additional remand is necessary to properly adjudicate the Veteran's claim for service connection of bilateral eye disability, including right eye diabetic retinopathy and other eye disabilities.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations were inadequate and fail to address the questions raised by the Board in the May 2021 remand. An addendum opinion is needed to determine whether the Veteran's bilateral eye disabilities are at least as likely as not related to herbicide exposure, aggravated beyond natural progression by hypertension or diabetes mellitus.
- Claimed conditions
- left eye diabetic retinopathy, right eye diabetic retinopathy, senile nuclear sclerosis, vitreous floaters, dry eye syndrome
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 3, 2021
- Citation
- 21072632
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 21072632.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal of entitlement to service connection for dry eye syndrome claimed as visual impairment, including blurry vision, blindness, double vision due to procedural error. The Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea was denied because there is no evidence of a current diagnosis of sleep apnea.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for OSA is denied as his sleep apnea has not been manifested by persistent daytime hypersomnolence or required use of a breathing assistance device such as a CPAP machine.,The Veteran's claims for service connection for dry eye syndrome and an increased rating for left knee disability are remanded due to procedural errors in the adjudication process.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the etiology of the Veteran's dry eye syndrome and conjunctivitis, including any potential service connection or toxic exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate medical opinions and pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors. The claims will be reconsidered with additional examinations.
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