The Board has identified three pre-decisional duty to assist errors and has therefore remanded the claims for further development. Specifically, the AOJ did not attempt to obtain the Veteran's private treatment records, the September 2023 VA Examination for diabetes mellitus is inadequate, and the September 2023 VA Examination for peripheral neuropathy is also inadequate.
The deciding factor: The Board has identified pre-decisional duty to assist errors in obtaining private medical records and inadequacies in the VA examinations related to diabetes mellitus and peripheral neuropathy.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the right upper extremity
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 11, 2023
- Citation
- A23035369
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 A23035369.
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 service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
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