The Board remanded the veteran's claims for service connection for anxiety, back pain, GERD, migraines, and bilateral knee pain due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error. The VA must obtain VA examinations to determine if the Veteran has current diagnoses of these conditions and provide medical opinions to address whether the Veteran's disabilities are directly related to service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the RO denied the veteran's service connection claims without first affording him VA examinations and/or medical opinions, constituting a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error.
- Claimed conditions
- anxiety, back pain, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), migraines, left knee pain, right knee pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25002965
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 A25002965.
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 Veteran's claim for service connection for migraines was reopened due to new evidence. Service connection is granted for painful scars, but the rating assigned remains at 10 percent. The claims for fibromyalgia and bilateral shoulder disability are denied.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including right shoulder disability, abdominal hernia, GERD, bilateral ankle disabilities, and bilateral foot disabilities. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated during the appellant's period of active duty.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's psychiatric condition, including PTSD, depression, and anxiety. The Veteran is seeking service connection for these conditions.
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