The Board remands the matter for further development, including scheduling an in-person VA examination or obtaining a medical opinion from an appropriate provider to determine if the Veteran's eye disabilities are related to service.
The deciding factor: The AOJ did not exhaust all possible avenues for obtaining access to the incarcerated Veteran and failed to obtain a medical opinion as required by law.
- Claimed conditions
- macular degeneration, dry eye
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 22, 2025
- Citation
- 25005383
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 service connection for glaucoma and macular degeneration, finding that the evidence did not support a causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for eye disabilities, to include retinopathy, bilateral nuclear cataracts, bilateral dermatochalasis, dry eye, and pinguecula, as the prior VA medical opinion regarding aggravation was found to be conclusory and lacked necessary medical reasoning.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection for macular degeneration and sleep apnea.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for macular degeneration and prostate cancer to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error related to toxic exposure risk activity.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.