The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate medical opinions and duty-to-assist errors.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to obtain adequate medical opinions regarding the onset of the Veteran's conditions during active service or their relationship to in-service exposures, which is necessary for a grant of service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- perianal abscess, anal fistula, internal hemorrhoids, external hemorrhoids
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2024
- Citation
- A24067628
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,500 · Granted: 29% (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 A24067628.
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 Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not meet the requirements for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 because he was not continuously rated totally disabled for a period of 10 or more years immediately preceding his death.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for anal stenosis as there is no current diagnosed disability, and the evidence does not establish a present disability or link to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for external hemorrhoids was granted with an effective date of July 26, 2022.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities require him to rely on his wife for assistance with daily activities, including dressing, bathing, and going up and down stairs. The Board found that the evidence is in balance and granted SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance.
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