The Board remands the claims for service connection for degenerative intervertebral disc and duodenal ulcer, as well as the TDIU claim, due to inadequate medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The August 2020 VA examiner's opinions were found inadequate because they did not address direct service connection or secondary service connection issues adequately.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative intervertebral disc, duodenal ulcer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25058821
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,113 · Granted: 47% (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 A25058821.
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 Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions, including adjustment disorder, benign skin lesions, actinic keratosis, poikiloderma, porokeratosis, Parkinson's disease, benign prostatic hypertrophy, hypertension, increased urinary frequency, diverticulosis, duodenal ulcer, and bilateral cataracts are all granted due to exposure to herbicide agents, mustard gas, and ionizing radiation during service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and duodenal ulcer have been dismissed as the appeal was made concurrently with a previously pending supplemental claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of an adequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's claimed stomach condition. The claim will be reconsidered with new evidence and reasoning.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for TDIU and Dependents' Educational Assistance was granted, with the effective dates set at August 31, 2009.
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