The Board remands the claims for specially adapted housing and special home adaptation due to a pre-decisional error in not obtaining a medical opinion.
The deciding factor: A medical opinion is needed to determine if the Veteran's service-connected disabilities alone result in loss or loss of use of his extremities, which would warrant the grant of specially adapted housing or special home adaptation.
- Claimed conditions
- Ischemic heart disease, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Diabetic nephropathy associated with diabetes mellitus type II to include erectile dysfunction, Diabetes mellitus type II to include erectile dysfunction, Left upper extremity diabetic peripheral neuropathy associated with diabetes mellitus type II to include erectile dysfunction, Right upper extremity diabetic peripheral neuropathy associated with diabetes mellitus type II to include erectile dysfunction, Right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy affecting the sciatic nerve group associated with diabetes mellitus type II to include erectile dysfunction, Left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy affecting the sciatic nerve group associated with diabetes mellitus type II to include erectile dysfunction, Residual painful scar, status post CAGB associated with ischemic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2025
- Citation
- A25028098
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 857 · Granted: 35% (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 A25028098.
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 claim for an initial rating of 30 percent prior to July 18, 2014, and a higher than 60 percent rating thereafter for ischemic heart disease is being remanded due to incomplete evidence. The examiner needs to provide more detailed information about the severity of his service-connected condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for an earlier effective date and increased rating for ischemic heart disease due to a failure by the AOJ to request SSA records, which were not available.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including his bilateral lower extremity conditions and PTSD, resulted in a loss of use of both lower extremities such that he is entitled to specially adapted housing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders and their relationship to service.
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