The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension, OSA, low back disorder, left hip disorder, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy to obtain additional medical evidence.
The deciding factor: There is a pre-decisional duty to assist error that was committed by the AOJ. The VA opinions are inadequate to decide these claims as they failed to address certain contentions.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), low back disorder, left hip disorder, left lower extremity radiculopathy femoral nerve, left lower extremity radiculopathy sciatic nerve, right lower extremity radiculopathy femoral nerve, right lower extremity radiculopathy sciatic nerve
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 8, 2025
- Citation
- A25105236
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 931 · Granted: 42% (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 A25105236.
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 remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including VA examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to conflicting opinions regarding service connection for peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, and skin disabilities related to herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension and increased rating for anxiety disorder have been denied. The Board found that there is no evidence of a current disability meeting the criteria for hypertension, and the Veteran's anxiety disorder does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
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