The Board remands the claim for a liver disability to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including providing an examination and medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's liver disabilities.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to insufficient evidence addressing whether the Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus, Type II (DM II) caused or aggravated his current liver disability or whether obesity due to DM II served as the intermediate step between DM II and his liver disability. Additionally, a VA examination under the PACT Act is required.
- Claimed conditions
- fatty liver disease, other chronic nonalcoholic liver disease, cirrhosis - non-alcoholic
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 22, 2025
- Citation
- A25036933
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 service connection for right ankle, left ankle, back disability, and other conditions as there is no evidence of a current disability related to the Veteran's military service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for fatty liver disease as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD with opiate/alcohol abuse disorders.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the service connection claim for fatty liver disease to correct a duty to assist error and obtain a VA medical examination.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for all the claimed conditions as there was no evidence of a current disability at any point during the claims period or shortly prior to the claim being filed.
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