The Board remands the claim for service connection of lung disease, to include IPF and COPD, due to a duty to assist error regarding the Veteran's alleged exposure to coal, coal dust, and human waste during his military service.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary to verify the Veteran's alleged exposure to coal, coal dust, and human waste while performing his MOS-related duties from December 1957 to May 1961, as a potential TERA, and to obtain an adequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of his lung disease.
- Claimed conditions
- lung disease, to include idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 16, 2025
- Citation
- A25052632
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,902 · Granted: 11% (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 A25052632.
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
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