The Board remands the claims for service connection for asthma, cataracts, congestive heart failure, low back pain, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy due to a duty to assist error related to lost or destroyed service treatment records.
The deciding factor: The Board identified a duty to assist error that occurred before the March 2024 rating decision due to lost or destroyed service treatment records, which prevented it from making a fully informed decision regarding the Veteran's claims. The claim is remanded for additional development and an examination.
- Claimed conditions
- asthma (claimed as respiratory), cataract, right eye, congestive heart failure (claimed as heart condition), low back pain, radiculopathy, right lower extremity (claimed as neuropathy in both legs due to back) as secondary to low back pain, radiculopathy, left lower extremity (claimed as neuropathy in both legs due to back) as secondary to low back pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 7, 2025
- Citation
- A25041525
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,081 · Granted: 38% (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 A25041525.
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 claim for service connection of a low back disability was reopened due to the submission of new and material evidence. The claim is denied as there is no evidence that the current condition is related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for heart disease, hypertension, kidney disease, and low back pain due to potential errors in duty to assist. The AOJ is required to verify the Veteran's alleged exposure to herbicide agents and obtain private treatment records.
- Granted
The Board has granted an effective date of February 26, 2011 for the award of service connection for low back pain with left sacroiliac dysfunction based on new evidence received after a final denial.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right and left upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome and low back pain, finding that there is no evidence of a chronic disease or injury in service or within one year after separation from service.
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