The Board remands the issues of entitlement to an initial rating higher than 70 percent for service-connected major depressive disorder, recurrent, moderate with anxious distress and traumatic brain injury (TBI), as well as the claims for service connection for Fuchs' corneal dystrophy, left and right eyes, and cervicogenic headaches, for further development.
The deciding factor: The remand is necessary to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors and ensure all relevant medical records are associated with the claims file.
- Claimed conditions
- Major depressive disorder, recurrent, moderate with anxious distress, Traumatic brain injury (TBI), Fuchs' corneal dystrophy, left eye as secondary to diverticulitis, status post sigmoidectomy, Fuchs' corneal dystrophy, right eye as secondary to diverticulitis, status post sigmoidectomy, Cervicogenic headaches
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 23, 2025
- Citation
- A25037290
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,836 · Granted: 31% (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 A25037290.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for traumatic brain injury and migraine headaches due to right eye removal are granted. The claim for a compensable evaluation of xeroderma of the right eye is remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) was denied because the disability is not shown as chronic in service and did not manifest to a compensable degree within the applicable presumptive period; continuity of symptomatology is not established; and the disability is not otherwise etiologically related to an in-service injury or disease.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a lumbar spine disability was denied because the disability was not shown as chronic in service and did not manifest to a compensable degree within the applicable presumptive period; continuity of symptomatology is not established; and the disability is not otherwise etiologically related to an in-service injury or disease.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a traumatic brain injury (TBI) was denied because there is no evidence of loss of consciousness or memory impairment following the motor vehicle accident during service, and post-service VA treatment records do not show a diagnosis of TBI.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, requiring further examination and opinion regarding the Veteran's cervicogenic headaches.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further development and consideration due to inadequate opinions regarding the Veteran's cervical spine condition and TBI. The VA will obtain an adequate opinion on both issues.
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