The Board remands the claim for a respiratory disability to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors and obtain additional evidence.
The deciding factor: The June 2015 and March 2019 VA opinions were found inadequate, and there is a need for an opinion under the PACT Act regarding potential exposure to burn pit toxins during service in Saudi Arabia.
- Claimed conditions
- Restrictive Lung Disease, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), Asthma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2024
- Citation
- A24071937
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 service connection for asbestosis, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rhinitis, sinusitis, and asthma. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was also denied a compensable rating.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted a 30 percent disability rating for asthma from August 23, 2021 to May 14, 2022.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a heart condition as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lymphedema and granted an initial 20% rating for a painful and unstable scar on the right mid-shin, effective April 14, 2022. Other claims were remanded.
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