The Board remands the claims for initial compensable ratings due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, specifically regarding notice of the right to a hearing under 38 C.F.R. § 3.103(d)(1).
The deciding factor: A duty to assist error occurred as the Veteran was not provided proper notice of his right to a hearing prior to the July 2024 rating decision.
- Claimed conditions
- right upper extremity diabetic neuropathy, left upper extremity diabetic neuropathy, right lower extremity diabetic neuropathy, left lower extremity diabetic neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 30, 2025
- Citation
- A25048090
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 granted service connection for diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, right lower extremity diabetic neuropathy, and left lower extremity diabetic neuropathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for an evaluation more than 10 percent for right and left lower extremity diabetic neuropathy to obtain a retrospective VA medical opinion regarding the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 8, 2017, for the grant of service connection for rhinitis but denied initial compensable ratings and higher ratings for other conditions.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for tinnitus was granted, while the appeals for diabetes mellitus type II and lower extremity diabetic neuropathy were withdrawn. The claim for a low back disorder is remanded due to an inadequate VA examination.
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