The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error and obtain a VA examination for the claimed acquired psychiatric disorder.
The deciding factor: A pre-decisional duty to assist error occurred due to the failure to provide the Veteran with a VA examination and to obtain a nexus opinion regarding his claimed acquired psychiatric disorder, which is likely related to service-connected prostate cancer and residuals thereof.
- Claimed conditions
- Prostate Cancer, Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), Atrial Fibrillation, Scar Status-post Pacemaker Implant Surgery
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 26, 2023
- Citation
- A23037248
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 A23037248.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted SMC at the rate of 50% for his service-connected conditions from April 20, 2020 to June 7, 2021.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension and prostate cancer residuals (voiding dysfunction) have been granted increased ratings of 10 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
- Granted
Service connection for OSA is granted, and the Veteran's initial ratings for atrial fibrillation, right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, right upper extremity neuralgia, and left upper extremity neuralgia are all granted at 10 percent.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for Congestive Heart Failure with Atrial Fibrillation with AICD and Hypertension (High Blood Pressure), finding that there was no evidence of direct service connection, and that the conditions were not caused or aggravated by service-connected OSA.
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