The Board remands the issue of entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for the Veteran's cerebellar ataxia due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
The deciding factor: A retrospective medical opinion is needed to better ascertain the severity of the Veteran's cerebellar ataxia disability and its residuals.
- Claimed conditions
- cerebellar ataxia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2024
- Citation
- A24072043
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 granted a separate rating for weakness in the left and right lower extremities due to cerebellar ataxia, an initial rating of 60 percent for cerebellar ataxia under Diagnostic Code 6205, and total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) effective March 9, 2017.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for cerebellar ataxia, kidney stones, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) as the Veteran's claimed conditions were not incurred during his active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for cerebellar ataxia to correct pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors, including obtaining private treatment records and SSA disability benefit records.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for cerebellar ataxia (also claimed as stiff person syndrome) due to contaminated water exposure at Camp Lejeune, finding that the evidence is in equipoise and resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
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