The Board remands the claims for service connection for bilateral eye conditions and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to address deficiencies in the medical opinions and ensure compliance with previous remand directives.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to inadequate medical opinions that did not fully consider relevant evidence, including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine's report on herbicide exposure and eye disabilities, as well as potential aggravation by service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral eye conditions (optic nerve drusen), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 4, 2022
- Citation
- 22000240
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 Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including GERD, chronic kidney disease, COPD, a heart condition, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, insomnia, and obstructive sleep apnea, as additional development is necessary to address the Veteran's exposure to toxic chemical agents during his service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a respiratory disability to obtain an adequate VA examination and additional evidence regarding the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents during service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, hiatal hernia, COPD, and prostate cancer as a result of toxic exposure during the Veteran's military service.
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