The Board remands the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, a neck disability, and a right calf disability to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: The AOJ failed to obtain fully adequate VA medical opinions in each of the claims, which constitutes a pre-decisional duty to assist error that must be corrected.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Depression, Schizophrenia, Neck disability, to include cervical strain, Right calf disability, to include fascial defect of the gastrocnemius muscle
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 3, 2025
- Citation
- A25057593
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for PTSD, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor and finding that his PTSD is related to an in-service military sexual trauma (MST) during a period of ACDUTRA.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple myeloma, back disability (secondary to multiple myeloma), and depression, with an effective date of January 26, 2021. The decision also remanded claims related to breast cancer, DEA benefits, and initial ratings.
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