The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for ratings in excess of 20 percent for his diabetic peripheral neuropathy due to issues with defining what constitutes 'moderately severe' incomplete paralysis and considering whether VA should obtain private treatment records from a non-VA provider.
The deciding factor: The Board found that it needs to define terms used in the rating criteria and consider obtaining additional private treatment records.
- Claimed conditions
- right lower extremity (RLE) diabetic peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity (LLE) diabetic peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 2, 2023
- Citation
- 23059260
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 23059260.
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 skin disability, claimed as chloracne, due to the lack of evidence showing a current diagnosis and no in-service incurrence or aggravation. The claims for right lower extremity (RLE) and left lower extremity (LLE) diabetic peripheral neuropathy were remanded for further development.
- Granted
The Veteran's DMII is granted on a presumptive basis due to herbicide agent exposure. The claims for diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities are granted as secondary to his service-connected DMII.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the Veteran's claim for service connection for lumbar spine disability. The claims of entitlement to increased ratings for various disabilities, including OSA, CAD, diabetes mellitus, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, and TDIU prior to March 2, 2018, are remanded due to the need for additional examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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