The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and hypertension to obtain a VA opinion regarding whether obesity may be an intermediate step between the Veteran's service-connected acquired psychiatric disability and his claimed disabilities.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support the Veteran's claim of exposure to herbicide agents, but he has advanced an alternative theory that his service-connected psychiatric disability contributed to a poor diet, resulting in obesity, which in turn resulted in his development of hypertension and diabetes. An addendum opinion is needed to address this theory.
- Claimed conditions
- Diabetes mellitus type II, Hypertension
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 25, 2025
- Citation
- A25055092
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,858 · Granted: 24% (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 A25055092.
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 the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's 10% rating for hypertension effective December 1, 2025 and denied a rating in excess of 10%. The reduction from 10% to noncompensable was not proper.
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