The Board remands the claims for increased ratings and service connection due to an incomplete record, specifically missing treatment records from the Veteran's primary care physician.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary because the AOJ failed to make reasonable efforts to ensure all relevant treatment records were obtained, particularly those from the Veteran's PCP.
- Claimed conditions
- melanoma, scars status post excision of hidrocystomas, left knee complications due to internal joint prosthesis, degenerative arthritis, intervertebral disc syndrome, degenerative disc disease lumbar spine, and spinal stenosis, left lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve, right lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2025
- Citation
- A25028070
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 772 · Granted: 31% (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 A25028070.
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.
- Dismissed
Your initial evaluations for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve have been granted, but your appeal is dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed all issues on appeal as the May 2024 rating decision was a purely ministerial implementation of the April 2024 Board decision.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for hypertension, equilibrium disorder (claimed as bad balance and equilibrium), bilateral restless leg syndrome, bilateral upper extremity tremor, melanoma, and acquired psychiatric disability due to a lack of adequate medical opinions regarding exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune and Agent Orange in Japan.
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