The Board remands the claim for a new VA opinion to determine the current nature and likely etiology of the Veteran's claimed vision disability, including legal blindness and optic atrophy.
The deciding factor: The January 2024 VA examiner opined that the Veteran's claimed disability is secondary to hypertension and stress, but neither of those disabilities are service connected. The April 2024 VA opinion did not provide other likely causes of the condition or address whether any toxic exposure could have aggravated the Veteran's condition.
- Claimed conditions
- vision disability, to include legal blindness and optic atrophy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 6, 2025
- Citation
- A25050119
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple disabilities, including a right hip disability, left ankle disability, right trigger finger disability, acquired psychiatric disorder, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and hypertension.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension, chronic sinusitis, and a vision disability to provide the Veteran with proper notice of his right to a hearing.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for all the claimed conditions as there was no evidence of a current disability at any point during the claims period or shortly prior to the claim being filed.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right and left knee, and left hip disabilities as secondary to the Veteran's lumbar spine disability. An earlier effective date of August 19, 2009, was also granted for a TDIU.
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