The Board found that new and relevant evidence has been received to permit reopening the Veteran's claim for service connection for facial neuropathy, also claimed as trigeminal neuralgia.
The deciding factor: The additional treatment records include a diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia, which is new and relevant evidence sufficient to permit reopening his claim.
- Claimed conditions
- facial neuropathy, trigeminal neuralgia
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2025
- Citation
- A25034635
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 Board granted initial ratings of 30 percent for trigeminal neuralgia and 40 percent for both left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, but denied an increased rating for contact dermatitis. An earlier effective date was also granted for the right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the appeal for further development, including obtaining relevant private treatment records and reexamining service-connected residuals of TBI.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a headache disability to include trigeminal neuralgia; temple headaches; non intractable headaches, unspecified chronicity pattern; unspecified headache type; migraines; and temporal arteritis as further development is required.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for trigeminal neuralgia, resolving the benefit of the doubt in favor of the Veteran.
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