The Board remands the claims for service connection for COPD and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities, including as due to herbicide agent exposure, because the VA medical opinions are inadequate.
The deciding factor: The January 2025 VA medical opinions are problematic because they contradict the record, lack medical reasoning, and do not address direct service connection as instructed by the Board remands.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Bilateral upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, Bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 8, 2025
- Citation
- 25006240
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed, and the claims for a compensable rating for the lower back scar, service connection for COPD, and peripheral artery disease were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, COPD, a gastrointestinal disability, and migraines due to lack of evidence supporting a link between these conditions and her military service.
- Dismissed
The appeals for service connection and higher initial rating were dismissed due to concurrent election of review options.
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