The Board remands the Veteran's claims for service connection to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: The failure to obtain relevant VA treatment records and a medical opinion addressing the Veteran's claimed disabilities constitutes a pre-decisional duty to assist error that must be corrected.
- Claimed conditions
- Major depressive disorder, Anxiety, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Headaches, Stroke, Cervical spine disability, Peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity, Peripheral neuropathy of the right upper extremity, Hypertension, Coronary artery disease, status-post myocardial infarction, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Bladder cancer, Erectile dysfunction, Lumbar spine disability, Peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, Peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 31, 2025
- Citation
- A25029357
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,757 · Granted: 23% (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 A25029357.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected major depressive disorder does not render him in need of regular aid and attendance or confined to his home, thus SMC based on housebound status and/or need for regular aid and attendance is denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking his myocardial infarction and COPD to his military service.
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