The Board has determined that the Veteran's service connection claims for brucellosis and related secondary conditions must be remanded due to a duty-to-assist error in the initial rating decisions. The Veteran was exposed to Southwest Asia during his military service, but the medical opinion provided did not adequately address this exposure.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinion relied on negative serologic testing without adequate explanation and did not consider the Veteran's confirmed service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations or his exposure theory.
- Claimed conditions
- brucellosis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), right knee disability, left knee disability, right elbow disability, left elbow disability, right ankle disability, left ankle disability, right shoulder disability, left shoulder disability, genitourinary inflammation, chronic fatigue, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, bradycardia, left hip disability, right hip disability, multiple muscle pain, hypertension, mental disorder (depression), back disability (spondylitis), headaches
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 9, 2026
- Citation
- A26021042
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 A26021042.
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 Veteran's right shoulder disability and migraines/chronic headaches are remanded for additional development due to insufficient opinions on the etiology of her conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
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