The Board remands the claim for an additional opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's liver cirrhosis, specifically whether it is related to service or aggravated by his service-connected diabetes mellitus.
The deciding factor: The July 2025 VA examination does not address whether the Veteran's service-connected diabetes aggravates his nonservice connected liver disorder and relies on an inaccurate factual premise regarding the Veteran's history of cirrhosis.
- Claimed conditions
- Liver dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2025
- Citation
- 25013106
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,886 · Granted: 24% (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 25013106.
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 remands the claim for service connection of liver disability to ensure compliance with prior remand directives, specifically regarding an opinion on aggravation by service-connected diabetes and presumed exposure to herbicide agents outside of Vietnam.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for arthritis of bilateral shoulder, elbows, knees, and legs, liver dysfunction (to include as secondary to diabetes mellitus), and laceration to the penis. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's right shoulder disability and migraines/chronic headaches are remanded for additional development due to insufficient opinions on the etiology of her conditions.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
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