The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 and service connection for depression are remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding the timing of his surgery and its impact on his health.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the need for a retrospective addendum VA medical opinion from a vascular surgeon to determine if the Veteran's post-abdominal aortic aneurysm repair complications were caused or aggravated by the delay in scheduling his surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- post-abdominal aortic aneurysm repair complications, respiratory failure, pneumonia, abdominal pain, ventral hernia, hypotension, neuropathy, abdominal wound deficiency
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 7, 2021
- Citation
- 21072946
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 21072946.
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 causes of death were not found to be service-connected, as there was no credible evidence linking the conditions to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for pneumonia, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and asthma as causes of death. The evidence did not support finding that these conditions were related to his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for SMC based on loss of use of both lower extremities is being remanded due to a failure to obtain relevant private medical records. The AOJ will consider these records when readjudicating the claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the eligibility determination for the PCAFC was inadequate due to an insufficient medical opinion, and thus remanded for further review.
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