The Board remands the claims for service connection for left and right hernias for additional development, including obtaining an adequate VA opinion.
The deciding factor: The September 2023 VA examiner's opinion is based on a factually inaccurate predicate that the available records fail to show any event, injury, or condition during service that would result in the bilateral inguinal hernias. The Board finds this opinion inadequate for adjudication purposes and remand necessary.
- Claimed conditions
- left hernia, right hernia
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 26, 2025
- Citation
- A25017493
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 896 · Granted: 51% (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 A25017493.
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 denied service connection for left and right knee disabilities, dismissed a back disability appeal, and remanded claims for service connection for a back disability, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and right hernia due to the Veteran's inability to attend scheduled VA examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for left and right hernias as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions began during active service or were caused by service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded several claims for additional development, including obtaining VA and private outpatient treatment records, as well as conducting new VA examinations to assess the severity of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities. The claims include those related to depressive disorder, bilateral foot fungus, right knee disorder, PTSD, memory loss, sleep disorder (secondary to TBI), and right hernia.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for autoimmune hepatitis, residuals of a left hernia operation, and painful scars associated with residuals of a left hernia operation. The Board found that there was no evidence to support the Veteran's assertions that his conditions were related to active service.
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