The Board remands the claims for service connection for bilateral upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy due to a lack of a nexus opinion.
The deciding factor: Additional development by the VA RO is necessary to fulfill the duty to assist, specifically to obtain a medical nexus opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's symptoms in service and his current peripheral neuropathies.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, Bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 3, 2025
- Citation
- A25095416
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,200 · Granted: 43% (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 A25095416.
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.
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The Veteran's claim for a higher level of SMC was denied as the Board found that he is already in receipt of SMC at the (l) rate based on need for regular aid and attendance due to service-connected disabilities, including coronary artery disease with congestive heart failure. A second award of SMC at the (l) rate based on need for regular aid and attendance was not warranted.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for SMC based on housebound status and need for aid and attendance, finding that he did not meet the criteria for these benefits prior to the specified dates.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities prevented him from securing or following substantially gainful employment since December 6, 2012. An earlier effective date of December 6, 2012, for the TDIU and DEA benefits is granted.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy due to herbicide agent exposure, but denied service connection for bilateral upper extremity neuropathy (diagnosed as bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome) based on the lack of evidence showing a nexus between the condition and service.
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