The Board has remanded the claim for service connection for a bilateral eye disability, including as due to herbicide agent exposure and/or secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus. The case is being returned for further development.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions obtained in June 2022 were inadequate for adjudicative purposes and remand was required to obtain additional opinions addressing the causation and aggravation prongs of secondary service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral horseshoe retinal tears, bilateral cataracts, bilateral dry eye syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 14, 2022
- Citation
- 22052452
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 22052452.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular Aid and Attendance is granted as of April 25, 2024.,For diabetes mellitus, a rating in excess of 20 percent is denied.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral dry eye syndrome, finding that there is not a causal relationship between his current condition and his military service. The evidence does not support a nexus to in-service exposures.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral dry eye syndrome is rated at a 20 percent rating, but no higher. The disability requires treatment with artificial tears and meets the criteria for a bilateral disorder of the lacrimal apparatus under Diagnostic Code 6099-6025.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate eye examination and new evidence received since the last decision.
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