The Board remands the claim for service connection of diabetes mellitus type II to obtain an opinion on whether the Veteran's obesity, which may be related to his service-connected disabilities, is a substantial factor in causing his diabetes and whether it was aggravated by those conditions.
The deciding factor: A pre-decisional duty to assist error occurred as VA did not request opinions addressing aggravation of obesity or its role as an intermediate step between the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and diabetes mellitus type II.
- Claimed conditions
- Diabetes mellitus type II
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2025
- Citation
- A25035805
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 715 · Granted: 43% (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 A25035805.
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 remanded the claims of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, basal cell carcinoma, bilateral pseudophakia, dry eye syndrome and blepharitis (bilateral eye conditions), diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension, and heart condition due to inadequate opinions regarding their etiology. The Veteran's exposure to asbestos is conceded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, basal cell carcinoma, bilateral pseudophakia, dry eye syndrome and blepharitis (bilateral eye conditions), diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension, and heart condition due to inadequate opinions regarding their etiology. The Veteran's exposure to asbestos is conceded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for fibrous dysplasia of sphenoid bone and diabetes mellitus type II due to potential errors in obtaining medical opinions. The Veteran's claims will be reconsidered with new evidence.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for cerebrovascular strokes and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are denied as there is no evidence of a nexus between these conditions and his military service.
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