The Board remands the claims for service connection for lower back pain and sleep apnea secondary to hypertension or hypothyroidism due to inadequate medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The February 2024 VA examination was inadequate as it did not provide an opinion as to the nature and etiology of the Veteran's currently diagnosed condition and the Veteran's in-service injury, and the December 2023 examiner's opinion is also found to be inadequate.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back pain, sleep apnea secondary to hypertension or hypothyroidism
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2025
- Citation
- A25030330
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,874 · Granted: 33% (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 A25030330.
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 Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a VA examination to determine the etiology of the Veteran's lower back pain.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded all issues for further development, including verification of the Veteran's service dates and consideration of any newly identified periods of service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for lower back pain and right shoulder pain, but has remanded the claim of major depressive disorder with suicidal tendency due to a duty to assist error.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for higher ratings and service connection are being remanded due to scheduling conflicts preventing VA examinations, and the claim for a higher rating based on multiple noncompensable disabilities is inextricably intertwined with other pending claims.
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