The Board remands the claims for service connection for retinopathy and bilateral nuclear sclerosis as secondary to diabetes mellitus type II due to the Veteran's failure to cooperate with scheduled VA examinations.
The deciding factor: The requested VA opinions regarding the Veteran's claimed conditions have not been obtained due to his failure to cooperate with scheduling of necessary VA examinations, and further development is needed before a final decision can be made.
- Claimed conditions
- retinopathy, bilateral nuclear sclerosis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 3, 2025
- Citation
- 25004573
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 772 · Granted: 31% (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 25004573.
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's claims for service connection were reopened and granted, with an effective date of January 11, 2008.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further adjudication of the appellant's claims for accrued benefits due to her testimony regarding good cause. The Veteran had pending service connection claims at the time of his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for hypertension and bilateral eye disability due to a duty to assist error that occurred prior to the April 2025 rating decision. The VA is required to obtain additional medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's conditions are related to his toxic exposure through TERA.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral eye condition, including cataracts, retinopathy, and dry eye syndrome, finding that there was no evidence to support a nexus between her current conditions and her military service.
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