The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, kidney failure, prostate cancer, and neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities as secondary to diabetes mellitus due to a duty to assist error.
The deciding factor: The Board erred in not determining whether VA committed a duty to assist error in not attempting to obtain certain documents that may be related to the Veteran's contended exposure to hazardous substances during active service.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, kidney failure, prostate cancer, neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, as secondary to diabetes mellitus, neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, as secondary to diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25032670
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 service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for prostate cancer, related to in-service exposures at Camp Lejeune.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for chronic kidney disease was dismissed due to the Veteran not timely filing a Notice of Disagreement within one year of the rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
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