The Board remands the claim for service connection of the Veteran's cause of death to obtain a medical opinion regarding the relationship between his in-service pneumonia and his aspiration pneumonia, as well as whether his TBI caused or contributed to his seizures and Parkinson's disease.
The deciding factor: A pre-decisional duty to assist error was found, requiring a VA medical opinion on the etiology of the Veteran's cause of death related to service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, Aspiration pneumonia, Cerebral vascular stroke, Non convulsive seizure, Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response and chronic diastolic congestive heart failure
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 4, 2025
- Citation
- A25049381
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 857 · Granted: 35% (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 A25049381.
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 claim for service connection for cause of death to obtain a medical opinion on whether the Veteran's cause of death was caused by or etiologically related to exposure to multiple vaccinations during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for cause of the Veteran's death and dependency and indemnity compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, survivors' pension, and accrued benefits due to a lack of an etiology opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's acute myeloid leukemia and his in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for cause of the Veteran's death and dependency and indemnity compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, survivors' pension, and accrued benefits due to a lack of an etiology opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's acute myeloid leukemia and his in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, requiring an additional VA medical opinion regarding the cause of the Veteran's death.
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