The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral eye conditions due to incomplete examination and opinion, as well as potential conflicts in medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner failed to reconcile contradictory findings by a previous VA examiner regarding risk factors for dry eye syndrome.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral cataracts, Glaucoma (bilateral, with moderate in the left eye and mild in the right eye), Hypertensive retinopathy, Dry eye syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 8, 2023
- Citation
- 23060263
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 23060263.
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 denied an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the service connection claims for vertigo, dry eye syndrome, and various bilateral conditions due to insufficient evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied a rating greater than 20 percent for diabetes mellitus, type II, with bilateral cataracts and total disability based upon individual unemployability (TDIU) as the evidence did not support an increase in the Veteran's ratings or entitlement to TDIU.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including diabetes mellitus type 2 and peripheral neuropathy, to further investigate potential exposure to herbicides during the Veteran's service in Korea.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral cataracts and noncompensable ratings for bilateral hearing loss and maxillary and frontal sinusitis, while granting a 30 percent rating for hiatal hernia.
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