The Board remands the claims for additional disability under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 due to October 2017 VA medical care (panniculectomy) and secondary service connection theories.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary to obtain addendum medical opinions that consider the Veteran's theories of causation, as well as a secondary service connection opinion for eustachian tube disability, dizziness, and infection disability.
- Claimed conditions
- abdominal thickening, abdominal abscess, abdominal scarring, asymmetry of the abdomen, umbilical scar thickening, eustachian tube disability, dizziness, infection disability, manifested by symptoms of fever, chills, and coughing, tachycardia, blood disability (other than anemia)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 1, 2025
- Citation
- 25008632
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,902 · Granted: 11% (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 25008632.
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 found that additional VA opinions are needed to address the nature and etiology of the Veteran's dizziness, including benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, and tension headaches, including migraines. The opinions should consider the Veteran's participation in a TERA and the combined effect of all his service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Veteran's dizziness condition is rated at a 10 percent disability rating under Diagnostic Code 6204, as the evidence does not show occasional staggering. The Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error, as there is insufficient evidence to determine if the Veteran's inner ear symptoms are related to service or any other condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found new and relevant evidence in support of the Veteran's previously denied service connection claim for dizziness and faintness. The case is being remanded to consider this new evidence.
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