The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding the Veteran's claimed bilateral eye disability. The examiner was not able to adequately address the Veteran's lay statements and contentions, as well as his service treatment records.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner failed to consider the Veteran's lay statements about the onset and continuity of his symptoms in service and post-service, which are critical for determining whether his current eye disabilities are related to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- presbyopia, pre-glaucoma (unspecified), bilateral mild superior corneal pannus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 19, 2023
- Citation
- 23003531
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 23003531.
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 service connection for a left eye disorder, including amblyopia and other conditions, as there was no evidence of aggravation beyond their natural progression during the Veteran's periods of active duty.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied service connection for a vision disability, to include hyperopia and presbyopia, and remanded several other claims including those for kidney, hypertension, sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus, lower extremity neuropathy, hip, knee, heart, neck, upper extremity radiculopathy, and TDIU.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right knee degenerative arthritis and remanded the claim for presbyopia due to insufficient evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the restoration of a 10 percent disability rating for dry eye syndrome and denied service connection for hyperopia, presbyopia, optic nerve cupping, and glaucoma.
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