The Board remands the claim for a pulmonary embolism to schedule an examination and obtain a medical opinion on its etiology, particularly regarding potential herbicide exposure during service.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in not providing a VA examination despite presumptive exposure to herbicide agents and a current diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.
- Claimed conditions
- pulmonary embolism
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25043553
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 the reinstatement of a 30% rating for cystic kidney disease, denied service connection for supraventricular tachycardia and old myocardial infarction, and denied initial ratings in excess of 10% for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for cause of death due to a duty-to-assist error, requiring further development.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of October 29, 2021, for the grant of service connection for a pulmonary embolism disability and an initial disability rating of 60 percent.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for pulmonary embolism as there is no evidence linking the condition to the Veteran's service, including any exposure to herbicides.
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