The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of medical opinion regarding whether the cornea is part of the organ of the eye and if its removal constitutes a loss of an organ. The Veteran's claim for a separate rating for status post corneal transplant will be reconsidered.
The deciding factor: There is insufficient evidence on whether the cornea should be considered as a separate entity from the eye in terms of VA compensation criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- corneal transplant, bilateral keratoconus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2023
- Citation
- 23004005
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 23004005.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral keratoconus, but remanded the claim for right ankle tendonitis.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the claim for service connection for cellulitis and remanded claims for allergic rhinitis, eczema, bilateral keratoconus, sinusitis, and knee conditions due to incomplete records and need for further development.
- Granted
The veteran is granted an initial 20 percent rating for chronic allergic conjunctivitis with bilateral blepharitis, bilateral dry eye syndrome, and bilateral keratoconus. Additionally, a separate initial 10 percent rating is granted for decreased visual acuity due to bilateral keratoconus.
- Denied
The Board denied the appeal, finding that the severance of service connection for bilateral keratoconus was proper due to an erroneous factual finding.
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