The Board remands the case to obtain outstanding SSA records relevant to the Veteran's claim for an increased rating for an acquired psychiatric disorder.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the Veteran applied for Social Security Administration (SSA) benefits, and efforts were not made to obtain these records at the time of the July 2023 rating decision. The Board finds that attempts to obtain and associate with the claims file any outstanding SSA records should be made.
- Claimed conditions
- specific phobia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 30, 2025
- Citation
- A25039668
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,726 · Granted: 19% (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 A25039668.
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 appeal is remanded to schedule a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's sleep disorder.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for specific phobia with generalized anxiety disorder, finding that the Veteran's current disability is due to his in-service events and assigning substantial probative weight to the opinions of the VA examiner.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a recurrent depressive disability and specific phobia was granted. The claim for service connection for basal cell carcinoma is remanded due to the need for additional medical examination.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's major depressive disorder and specific phobia began during his service in Vietnam, and thus grants service connection for these conditions.
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