The Board remands the claims for service connection for asthma, allergic rhinitis, headaches, and gastric ulcers due to insufficient evidence to determine their etiology.
The deciding factor: The March 2015 VA examination is inadequate because it is not based on sufficient facts particular to the Veteran as the examiner was unable to review the Veteran's private treatment records. Additionally, there are no current diagnoses of asthma and rhinitis in the claims file, and the Veteran has provided competent evidence of a current diagnosis, an in-service event while he was deployed, that the diagnosed condition may be associated with the in-service event, and because there is otherwise insufficient evidence to decide the claim, a remand is necessary to determine the etiology of the Veteran's asthma/rhinitis. The failure of the AOJ to provide the Veteran with an adequate examination prior to issuing its decision constitutes a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error which must be remanded to correct.
- Claimed conditions
- asthma, allergic rhinitis, headaches (including migraines), gastric ulcers with gastroesophageal reflux disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 16, 2025
- Citation
- A25034977
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 increased ratings for the Veteran's lumbar spine pain, allergic rhinitis, and recurrent yeast infections. The claims for service connection for generalized anxiety disorder with alcohol use disorder and left knee pain were remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent disability rating for unspecified trauma and stressor-related disorder with major depressive disorder, recurrent, and alcohol use disorder in early remission, as well as TDIU due to asthma and SMC at the housebound rate.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including sinusitis, elbows condition, cervical condition, erectile dysfunction, kidney condition, sleep apnea, wrists condition, asthma, shoulders condition, ankles condition, eye condition (bilateral dry macular degeneration), peripheral vascular disease (heart condition), and rhinitis.
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