The Board remands the claim for a compensable rating of bilateral dry eye syndrome due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error in not providing the Veteran with information about the credentials of VA examiners.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on the failure to provide the Veteran with requested information regarding the qualifications of medical examiners who evaluated his claim, which is a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral dry eye syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25024016
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 granted service connection for eye conditions, an acquired psychiatric disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction and left eye retinopathy. However, it denied increased ratings for multiple peripheral neuropathies, hypertension, and status post tympanoplasty.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent initial rating for bilateral dry eye syndrome and service connection for left knee strain, but denied other claims including increased ratings for right lower extremity radiculopathy, bilateral hearing loss, incomplete right bundle branch block (claimed as cardiac arrhythmia), degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine with IVDS, scarring of the left inguinal area, status post varicocele surgery, and service connection for left shoulder strain and restless leg syndrome.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for all the conditions listed as there was no evidence of an in-service event, nor is there evidence demonstrating a nexus to service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions and denied increased ratings for several service-connected disabilities, as the evidence did not support a finding of current disability or aggravation related to service.
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