The Board remands the claims for service connection for chronic bronchitis and pleurisy to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error related to the Veteran's potential exposure to burn pits during his service in Somalia.
The deciding factor: Further development is required to verify the dates and locations of the Veteran's foreign service, including any service in Somalia from August 1995 to March 1997, and to identify the Veteran's in-service toxic exposure risk activities related to his MOS in aerospace maintenance.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic bronchitis, pleurisy
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 18, 2025
- Citation
- A25099907
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (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 A25099907.
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 decided to remand the case due to a lack of adequate examination and opinion regarding the Veteran's claimed chronic bronchitis. The Veteran is seeking service connection for this condition, which was denied in an initial decision. The VA examiner did not address the medical record indicating a current diagnosis of chronic bronchitis.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection for depression, Gram Positive Cocci Condition, chronic bronchitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and diseases of Keratinization due to untimely filing of the Decision Review Request.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for chronic bronchitis, finding that the Veteran's current condition is related to his active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for chronic bronchitis and remanded the issue of service connection for obstructive sleep apnea due to duty-to-assist errors.
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