The Board remands the claims for service connection for residuals of right and left foot frostbite to obtain additional evidence, including medical records from Grand Forks Air Force Base Hospital, and a new VA examination.
The deciding factor: The December 2020 examination report was found incomplete because it improperly relied on the absence of medical records without considering lay evidence. Additionally, there is no evidence that the AOJ attempted to obtain records from the identified hospital.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of right foot frostbite, residuals of left foot frostbite
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25043378
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,645 · 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 A25043378.
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 Board has granted service connection for residuals of right foot frostbite and residuals of left foot frostbite, finding that the Veteran's disabilities are attributable to her active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for residuals of left and right foot frostbite are being remanded due to the need for a VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's service connection claims for various foot disabilities, including frostbite and fungus, need further examination due to incomplete medical records and exposure history.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development and clarification of the medical records, as well as for new opinions regarding his hearing loss and foot frostbite conditions.
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