The Veteran's claim for service connection is remanded due to a pre-decisional error in the duty to assist, and he is recharacterized as having symptoms related to environmental exposures in Southwest Asia. The Board finds that an examination is required given the indication of a possible relationship between his symptoms and military service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claim was remanded due to a pre-decisional error in the duty to assist, which requires additional evidence to be obtained before a decision can be made.
- Claimed conditions
- Joint pain (other than service-connected bilateral ankle ligament sprain), Stomach pain, Diarrhea
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 19, 2026
- Citation
- A26024774
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 A26024774.
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 Board has remanded the claim for service connection for diarrhea, claimed as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), due to insufficient medical opinions addressing its relationship to service. The Veteran's claims for CFS and COPD remain denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate examination and incomplete analysis of service connection for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and objective indications of a disability manifested by diarrhea. The examiner is requested to provide an opinion on whether IBS or any diagnosed gastrointestinal disability is related to the Veteran's in-service Gulf War exposure.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to untimely filing of the Notice of Disagreement (NOD) for claims related to an increased rating and service connection, as well as lack of jurisdiction over a previously granted claim for sinusitis.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for service-connected other specified trauma and stressor-related disorder, denied an initial compensable rating for service-connected erectile dysfunction, and readjudicated the claims of entitlement to service connection for left and right hand numbness based on new evidence. The remaining claims were remanded.
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