The Board remands the claims for further development and readjudication by the Regional Office due to a duty to assist error regarding the verification of in-service exposure to herbicide agents or other toxic exposure risk activities.
The deciding factor: The AOJ did not take adequate steps to verify the Veteran's claimed exposures, which was a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, type II, heart disease, strokes, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 20, 2025
- Citation
- A25045296
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for right foot, left elbow, left hip, left ankle, and diabetes mellitus to obtain additional medical evidence.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for left and right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, finding that the conditions are related to Agent Orange exposure during the Veteran's service in Vietnam.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for cervical spine condition, diabetes mellitus, heart condition, lumbar spine condition, and urinary frequency and voiding condition as there was no evidence of a current diagnosis or in-service incurrence or aggravation.
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