The Board remands the claim for a respiratory condition to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error and to afford the Veteran an additional examination with medical opinion based on full consideration of his documented medical history and assertions.
The deciding factor: The 2018 VA examinations were found inadequate, as they did not consider or address all potential respiratory conditions and their etiology related to service, including in-service exposure to asbestos and herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- respiratory condition, bronchitis, shortness of breath
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 10, 2025
- Citation
- A25021827
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,135 · Granted: 33% (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 A25021827.
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 respiratory condition, including COPD, is remanded due to errors in obtaining SSA records and an inadequate TERA memo. The Board finds the AOJ erred by not attempting to obtain relevant SSA records and by relying on an incomplete TERA memo.
- 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.
- Granted
The Veteran's shortness of breath and Hodgkin's lymphoma are granted service connection, but his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and acquired psychiatric disorder are denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to missing records and a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The claims will be readjudicated after obtaining any necessary records.
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