The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders are related to service or secondary to his service-connected umbilical hernia scar.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide a clear rationale for their conclusion that the psychiatric conditions were less likely than not caused by the service-connected umbilical hernia scar.
- Claimed conditions
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Depression, Dementia
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2023
- Citation
- 23000062
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,757 · Granted: 23% (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 23000062.
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 case due to insufficient findings regarding PTSD and depression, requiring a new VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to errors in the AOJ's handling of the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, other specified trauma and stressor-related disorder, and depression. The AOJ is required to verify the Veteran's claimed stressor and obtain medical opinions regarding the diagnoses and their relation to service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's generalized anxiety disorder is related to his active-duty service and has granted service connection for this condition.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Anxiety, and Depression as these conditions are found to be related to the Veteran's active military service.
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