The Board remands the claims for service connection for melanoma and a headache disability to cure pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: Incomplete VA examinations and failure to obtain relevant medical records are cited as reasons for remand.
- Claimed conditions
- headache disability, melanoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2025
- Citation
- A25026014
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,645 · Granted: 19% (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 A25026014.
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 regarding entitlement to service connection for a headache disability and entitlement to an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent prior to May 29, 2014, and in excess of 20 percent thereafter for right tibiofibular ligament strain are being remanded due to the need for additional development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection and rating of left lower extremity radiculopathy, headache disability, and bilateral hearing loss due to an error in notifying the Veteran of her right to a pre-decisional hearing.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for melanoma, to include SCC of the right hand, finding that it is at least as likely as not caused by exposure to radiation during service.
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