The Board remands the claim for a respiratory disability, to include chronic cough and shortness of breath, due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in the form of failure to obtain a medical opinion that discusses the full extent of the appellant's condition.
The deciding factor: A remand is required because the previous examination did not render a diagnosis, ignored relevant diagnostic testing, failed to provide an opinion on toxic exposure risk activities (TERA), and disregarded subjective reports of symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic cough, shortness of breath
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 7, 2025
- Citation
- A25011713
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 785 · Granted: 27% (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 A25011713.
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 Veteran's claims for increased evaluations for PTSD and a chronic cough are being remanded due to an error in providing notice of the right to a hearing before the RO.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew her appeal regarding service connection for bilateral hearing loss and chronic cough, thus the appeal is dismissed.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a chronic cough disability was granted with an effective date of January 1, 2002. This decision is based on the addition of relevant service department records that were not considered in prior decisions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection on four different conditions have been dismissed due to the death of the Veteran during the appeal process.
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