The Board has remanded the claims for peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology. The appellant's exposure to herbicide agents is not established, so a medical opinion on early-onset presumptive service connection is needed.
The deciding factor: Medical opinions are required to determine if the appellant's peripheral neuropathy is related to his active service or other factors such as early onset due to herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral vision loss, right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, respiratory disability (rhinitis and sinusitis), dizziness (vertigo), gastrointestinal disability (IBS and PUD), cervical spine disorder, right tennis elbow, left tennis elbow, obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, traumatic brain injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 18, 2023
- Citation
- 23045955
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 23045955.
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 obstructive sleep apnea, finding that there is no competent evidence to support a finding that his current condition began in or as a result of service.
- Denied
The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as there is no current diagnosis of this condition during the appeal period.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his active service or any related exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional development is needed for the claims on appeal, including obtaining any outstanding treatment records and scheduling VA examinations to assess the current severity of service-connected disabilities. The Veteran's representative also requested reevaluation of his service-connected disabilities.
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