The Board remands the claim for entitlement to service connection for alcohol use disorder as secondary to a service-connected disability due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
The deciding factor: The AOJ's failure to request a VA medical opinion on whether the Veteran's alcohol use disorder was secondary to a service-connected disability constitutes a pre-decisional duty to assist error, and an addendum opinion is needed.
- Claimed conditions
- Alcohol use disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 7, 2025
- Citation
- A25057933
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 an effective date of May 9, 2022, for the grant of service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder with generalized anxiety disorder, other specified depressive disorder, and alcohol use disorder.
- Granted
The Board granted a 70 percent evaluation for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD and other specified trauma and stressor disorder and alcohol use disorder, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and alcohol use disorder, as the Veteran's claimed in-service stressors were not credible.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, tinnitus, varicose veins, right knee disability, and bilateral foot pain causing impairment in earning capacity on a direct basis.
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