The Board remands the claims for service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral neuropathy in all extremities, and Parkinson's disease due to herbicide exposure for further development of evidence.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary to obtain non-VA medical records scanned into VA's Veterans Health Information System Technology Architecture (VistA) Imaging system.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Enlarged lymph nodes, Shortness of breath, Left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, Right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, Left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, Right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, Parkinson's disease
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 23, 2024
- Citation
- 24032137
Veterans Law Judge
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 24032137.
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 claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking his myocardial infarction and COPD to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) at the (o) rate and SMC at the (r)(2) rate, effective January 19, 2025. The decision finds that the Veteran's service-connected conditions warrant these awards due to his need for aid and attendance.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for bladder cancer, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as there is no evidence to support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease, headaches, an acquired psychiatric disorder (other specified trauma and stressor related disorder and PTSD), and Parkinson's disease. The conditions are presumed to be due to exposure in service.,Service connection is established for all four claimed conditions.
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