The Board remands the claims for service connection for migraines and osteoporosis due to a need for additional medical opinions regarding their relationship to in-service toxic exposures.
The deciding factor: The failure to obtain an adequate medical opinion as to whether the Veteran's currently diagnosed migraine disability and osteoporosis disability are related to the Veteran's conceded in-service participation in a TERA constitutes a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Claimed conditions
- migraines, osteoporosis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 11, 2025
- Citation
- A25033923
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.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent initial disability rating for PTSD effective December 2, 2021, but the claim for an increased rating in excess of 70 percent was denied. The appeal also included claims for service connection and ratings for various conditions, some of which were granted while others were remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for migraines, finding that his symptoms more closely approximate a 30 percent disability rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for migraines, including as secondary to cervical strain, due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors in not translating relevant Spanish documents and ensuring a VA examiner considered all evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a restoration of the separate 10 percent rating for vertigo, an earlier effective date for service connection for vertigo and migraines, and a 30 percent rating for hypothyroidism with heart murmur. The decision also denied an earlier effective date for hypertension and remanded claims for obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and individual unemployability.
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