The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including a right hand condition, left hand condition, right knee condition, left knee condition, right hip condition, and cervical spine condition, as there are no opinions of record addressing the theory of entitlement based on obesity caused or aggravated by service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The claims must be remanded for an opinion regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected disabilities caused or aggravated her obesity, which in turn may have contributed to her current conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- right hand condition (claimed as bilateral hands), left hand condition (claimed as bilateral hands), right knee condition, left knee condition, right hip condition, cervical spine condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 16, 2025
- Citation
- A25052717
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for tinnitus, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor. The claims for a cervical spine condition and lumbar spine condition were remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the veteran's claimed conditions, including right shoulder arthritis, left shoulder arthritis, right hip condition, left hip condition, low back disability, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, as there was no evidence of in-service injury or illness related to these conditions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed due to untimely filing of the Board Appeal requests.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for allergic rhinitis and lumbosacral or cervical strain was dismissed due to untimeliness, while the other issues were remanded for further evidence.
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