The Board remands the claims for service connection for coronary artery disease, hypothyroidism, and dementia secondary to hearing loss due to a need to verify herbicide exposure and obtain an adequate medical opinion.
The deciding factor: A pre-decisional duty to assist error occurred as the AOJ did not attempt to verify the Veteran's claimed exposure to Agent Orange or provide an adequate medical opinion addressing causation and aggravation of dementia by service-connected hearing loss.
- Claimed conditions
- Coronary artery disease (CAD), Dementia secondary to service-connected hearing loss, Hypothyroidism
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 25, 2025
- Citation
- A25038179
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 857 · Granted: 35% (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 A25038179.
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 Veteran's current coronary artery disease with acute, subacute, or old myocardial infarction with coronary stent is being remanded for further evaluation due to the lack of a medical nexus between his service-connected hypertension and his heart condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for SMC based on aid and attendance from June 1, 2011, to May 24, 2017, finding that his need for regular aid and attendance was not established during this period.
- Denied
The Veteran's service connection claims for coronary artery disease and obstructive sleep apnea have been denied as there is no evidence of a nexus between the conditions and his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found new and relevant evidence for the claims of service connection for coronary artery disease (CAD) and an acquired psychiatric disorder. The AOJ is required to readjudicate these claims, taking into consideration all submitted evidence.
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