The Board remands the claim for service connection for a mental disorder, to include as secondary to a service-connected disability, due to inadequate VA medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The VA opinions received in January and February 2021 are found to be inadequate for adjudication purposes due to their use of an incorrect standard and failure to address the Veteran's diagnoses reported in his VA medical records.
- Claimed conditions
- mental disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 22, 2025
- Citation
- A25046099
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 Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. §1151 for an increase in a mental disorder as a result of the March 2015 bilateral inguinal hernia surgery at the VAMC in Houston, Texas, is granted.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to a contributory role of his mental disorder, but denied entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C. � 1318 as it was moot given the grant.
- Denied
The appeal to reverse or revise the October 2007 and February 2014 rating decisions was denied as there was no clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in either decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. §1151 for a mental disorder as a result of the Veteran's March 2015 bilateral inguinal hernia surgery at the VAMC in Houston, Texas for additional procedural development.
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