The Board remands the veteran's claims for service connection for various disabilities, including erectile dysfunction, chest strain, and multiple joint and muscle conditions, to ensure compliance with VA's duty to assist.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to a lack of adequate medical opinions addressing direct service connection, secondary service connection, and aggravation theories, as well as the need for additional VA treatment records from the 1970s.
- Claimed conditions
- Erectile dysfunction, Chest strain, Left ankle disability, Right ankle disability, Left hip disability, Right hip disability, Left shoulder disability, Right shoulder disability, Low back disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 8, 2025
- Citation
- A25058298
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 Veteran's appeal for increased ratings for right and left shoulder disabilities, as the evidence did not support a higher rating under applicable criteria.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, a low back disability, residuals of a right foot injury, sinusitis, shortness of breath, allergic rhinitis, and sleep apnea as there was no evidence to support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Granted
The Board granted a 10 percent disability rating for osteoarthritis of the right hand and service connection for a left shoulder disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 29, 2019 for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder but denied earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
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