The Board remands the claim for a compensable rating for status post umbilical hernia repair with scar due to an inadequate opinion regarding the Veteran's symptomatology.
The deciding factor: The examiner provided an opinion that it was at least as likely as not that the Veteran's umbilical hernia status-post surgery and surgical scar were quiescent over the claim period, but this standard is incorrect given the pro-Veteran nature of Veterans law. The Board requires a re-evaluation to determine if the condition was symptomatic.
- Claimed conditions
- status post umbilical hernia repair with scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 15, 2025
- Citation
- 25006589
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,451 · Granted: 22% (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 25006589.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim for a compensable rating for status post umbilical hernia repair with scar due to multiple critical faults found in the March 2022 decision, including inadequate reasons and bases for rejecting the Veteran's testimony regarding painful scars. The Court also found fault with the Board's finding that the Veteran's umbilical hernia had been quiescent over the entire claim period.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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