The Board remands the claims for an increased rating and earlier effective date due to a pre-decisional error regarding the Veteran's service-connected schizophrenia, schizoaffective type.
The deciding factor: A retrospective opinion is necessary as the Veteran did not present for a VA examination and has since passed away, making it impossible to assess his current state of mental health condition.
- Claimed conditions
- schizophrenia, schizoaffective type
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 28, 2025
- Citation
- A25093186
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (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 A25093186.
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 has granted service connection for schizophrenia, schizoaffective type. The claim for head trauma was denied as the evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran's current condition is related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims of clear and unmistakable error in prior rating decisions for schizophrenia, schizoaffective type. The issue of an increased disability evaluation for schizophrenia, schizoaffective type, remains pending.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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