The Board remands the claim for service connection of the cause of the Veteran's death due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist omission, requiring an addendum medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion is not entirely adequate as it does not address all necessary questions regarding the Veteran's sudden cardiac death and his service-connected narcolepsy.
- Claimed conditions
- Sudden cardiac death
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2025
- Citation
- A25096327
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,421 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation A25096327.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's death is not related to his military service, and there is no evidence of ischemic heart disease or other conditions that would qualify for presumptive service connection based on herbicide exposure. The Board denied the claim as the preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding of service connection.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was due to coronary artery disease, which is presumed to be related to his service in Vietnam. The Board granted service connection for the cause of death based on this presumption.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board determined that the Veteran's sudden cardiac death was not due to any disability incurred in service, manifested during the first post-service year, or related to service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking his lung disease to service or the immediate cause of death.
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