The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error.
The deciding factor: A remand is required to obtain additional records from UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh, specifically pertaining to December 2012, as the appellant has not provided these records and VA must take all necessary steps to obtain them.
- Claimed conditions
- septic shock, multiorgan system failure, subdural hematoma, blunt force trauma of the head
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2025
- Citation
- A25093692
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 878 · Granted: 36% (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 A25093692.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error and obtain a new medical opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's service, his death, and any service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to lack of evidence showing a link between any service-connected disability and the Veteran's death. The conditions listed on his death certificate were not related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found new and relevant evidence for the claims of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, a heart disorder, and a seizure disorder. The AOJ is required to readjudicate these issues in the first instance.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death, finding that there was no evidence linking any of the immediate or contributing causes of his death to his period of active duty service. The Board also found that the PACT Act did not apply in this case as the Veteran served prior to the period when herbicide agents were presumed used.
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