The Board remands the claim for a new VA medical opinion to determine if any of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including his migraines and major depressive disorder with psychotic features and unspecified neurocognitive disorder, caused or materially contributed to the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: A pre-decisional duty to assist error exists as there is insufficient competent evidence to establish a causal nexus between the Veteran's cause of death and his service-connected disabilities. A new VA medical opinion is necessary.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder with psychotic features and unspecified neurocognitive disorder, migraine headaches associated with major depressive disorder with psychotic features and unspecified neurocognitive disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 26, 2025
- Citation
- A25055401
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 A25055401.
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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