The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to conflicting medical evidence regarding the nature of his retinopathy, fatty liver disease, and other conditions.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for fatty liver disease is also remanded as there is insufficient nexus opinion provided by the VA examiner.
The deciding factor: The Board requires a medical examination and opinion to reconcile and resolve the conflicting diagnoses of record regarding the Veteran's retinopathy, fatty liver disease, autoimmune diseases, pancytopenia, migraine headaches, insomnia (Chronic Adjustment Disorder), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and atrial fibrillation.,The Board requires an examination and opinion reconciling the diagnoses of record for the Veteran's autoimmune diseases and to determine if they are related to his exposure to toxins and contaminated water.
- Claimed conditions
- retinopathy, fatty liver disease, an autoimmune disease, pancytopenia, migraine headaches, insomnia (Chronic Adjustment Disorder), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), atriial fibrillation (A fib)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 23, 2022
- Citation
- 22016798
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 22016798.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for additional development due to incomplete medical records and insufficient opinions regarding the relationship between service, including a stick injury in England, and current left eye disability (including amblyopia and cataracts) as well as migraine headaches.
- Granted
The Veteran's OSA is granted as service connected. The Veteran's infectious disease claim and stomach disability claim are remanded for further examination.
- Granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches are productive of very frequent, completely prostrating and prolonged attacks capable of producing severe economic inadaptability. The Board has granted a 50 percent disability rating for the Veteran's service-connected migraine headaches.
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