The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's bilateral eye disability, including whether it is related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II or herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: An additional VA medical opinion is needed to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's bilateral eye disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral cataracts, Glaucoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2024
- Citation
- 24001940
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,456 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 24001940.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected glaucoma has rendered him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment on an extra-schedular basis, effective September 1, 2020.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral eye disability, including cataracts and a choroidal nevus affecting the left eye, is not attributable to active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim of entitlement to compensation benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for glaucoma due to inadequate development and reasoning in the previous decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including inadequate VA examinations and ineffective assignment of an effective date. A new VA examination is required to assess the current severity of his service-connected bilateral dry eye syndrome and cataracts, with a focus on whether a separate compensable rating for dry eye syndrome is warranted.
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