The Board remands the claim for service connection for essential tremor due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error, requiring an adequate VA medical examination.
The deciding factor: The March 2023 VA TERA opinion is inadequate because it is based on an incorrect factual finding regarding the Veteran's prior medical history and does not address whether the Veteran's essential tremor diagnosis is due to his herbicide agent exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- essential tremor
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 21, 2025
- Citation
- A25036195
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 remands the claims for service connection for Parkinson's disease/parkinsonism, a gastrointestinal disorder, a speech disorder, and essential tremor due to an inadequate VA examination.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for essential tremor, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor and finding that her essential tremor is etiologically related to service.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed as the benefit sought for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and essential tremor, and initial compensable ratings for hypothyroidism and hypertension were withdrawn. The Board also denied a rating in excess of 10 percent based upon multiple, noncompensable, service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Board granted a 10 percent rating for essential tremor, effective from August 6, 2023.
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