The Board remands the claims for service connection for Merkel cell carcinoma, left knee disability, and neck disability to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: Incomplete or inadequate VA examinations were provided, and there is a need to verify the dates, locations, and circumstances of each period of active duty, ACDUTRA, and INACDUTRA.
- Claimed conditions
- Merkel cell carcinoma, Left knee disability, Neck disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25043093
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic headaches, CFS, dermatosis, bilateral RLS, a lumbar spine disability, and sleep apnea but denied a compensable evaluation for allergic rhinitis.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the claims for an initial compensable rating for left ear sensorineural hearing loss, service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability, and a left eye disorder. However, it granted service connection for a back disability and radiculopathy of both lower extremities as secondary to the back disability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and a neck disability, while remanding claims for sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, prostate cancer, and benign prostate hypertrophy.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a low back disability and a neck disability, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
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