The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient opinions regarding whether the Veteran's forced vital capacity (FVC) value was caused by an acute viral illness or a symptom of his service-connected benign pleural plaques.
The deciding factor: The VA Regional Office obtained multiple opinions that were deemed inadequate and required for clarification on this specific issue.
- Claimed conditions
- benign pleural plaques
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 26, 2024
- Citation
- 24018047
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 24018047.
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 case due to inadequate analysis in a previous VA expert medical opinion, and new evidence is needed to determine if the FVC value was caused by an acute viral illness or service-connected benign pleural plaques.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's benign pleural plaques, also addressed as calcification of the lungs, are related to exposure to asbestos while in service and granted service connection.,Service connection for COPD is denied as there is no evidence that it began during active service or is otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.
- Granted
The veteran's benign pleural plaques are found to be due to inservice asbestos exposure and service connection is granted.
- 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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