The Board has remanded the claims for further development and review. The Veteran's respiratory disorder is not shown to be causally or etiologically related to any disease, injury, or incident during service. Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD) is also remanded.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran does not have COPD or any asbestos-related respiratory disease and his mild sleep disordered breathing diagnosed in 2008 is unrelated to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Respiratory disorder, Acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20072130
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (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 20072130.
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 the Veteran's claim for service connection of an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, finding that there is no evidence linking his current mental health condition to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was denied as the stressors could not be verified, and there is no evidence of fear of hostile military or terrorist activity.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is being remanded due to a duty to assist error. The VA medical opinions provided prior to the March 2025 rating decision on appeal are based on incorrect premises and need to be reconsidered.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, specifically failing to verify an in-service stressor and not affording a VA examination.
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