The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for acne, right leg pain, and left leg pain due to incomplete medical opinions in the October 2022 VA examination report. The Veteran is not entitled to service connection for these conditions as there is no clear and unmistakable evidence of pre-existing acne that was aggravated by active duty, and the current knee strains are not related to his service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide an opinion regarding whether the diagnosed bilateral knee strain is related to the Veteran's service, specifically considering the August 2002 STR noting bilateral leg pain for three weeks.
- Claimed conditions
- Acne, Right leg pain, Left leg pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2023
- Citation
- 23002069
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 23002069.
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 Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for acne, finding that his pre-existing condition clearly and unmistakably existed prior to service and was not aggravated by military service.
- Granted
The Veteran was found to be precluded from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to August 29, 2024 due to her service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The reduction in rating for other specified anxiety disorder from 30 to 10 percent, effective May 1, 2025 was improper and restoration of the prior 30 percent rating is granted.,The reduction of acne rating from 10 percent to zero percent was improper and restoration of the 10 percent rating is denied.,The reduction in rating for lumbosacral strain from 40 percent to 10 percent was improper and restoration of the 40 percent rating is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for nonservice-connected pension and special monthly pension due to duty-to-assist errors, including obtaining SSA records and scheduling a VA examination.
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