The Board remands the claims for service connection for cognitive decline and memory loss, as well as anxiety and depression, due to a duty to assist error.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the need for additional development and an examination to determine if there is a link between the Veteran's claimed conditions and his military service, including exposure to radiation from the Chernobyl incident.
- Claimed conditions
- anxiety and depression, cognitive decline and memory loss
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Ionizing radiation
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 7, 2025
- Citation
- A25041446
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,886 · Granted: 24% (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 A25041446.
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 has denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, hypertension, and anxiety and depression. The evidence did not meet the criteria for these conditions to be considered disabilities under VA regulations.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a respiratory disability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected mental disorder, finding that his anxiety and depression significantly worsen his respiratory condition.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for right ear hearing loss, tinnitus, anxiety and depression, bilateral knee pain, and lower back pain as they are already decided in another appeal stream.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for anxiety and depression, cervical spine disability, right upper extremity radiculopathy, left upper extremity radiculopathy, low back disability, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and left lower extremity radiculopathy. Service connection was denied for hypertension.
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