The Board remanded the claim for a compensable rating for functional dysphagia to obtain an adequate medical examination considering the ameliorative effects of the Veteran's medication and lay statements.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not discuss the ameliorative effects of the Veteran's medication or consider the lay statements, leading to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Claimed conditions
- functional dysphagia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2025
- Citation
- A25006061
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 869 · Granted: 44% (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 A25006061.
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 case for readjudication of multiple service connection and evaluation issues, including those related to fatigue, muscle and joint pain, functional dysphagia, gastrointestinal disorder (functional vomiting, bloating), migraine headaches, sleep apnea, and sleep disturbance. The decision on Dependents Educational Assistance (DEA) under 38 U.S.C. Chapter 35 is also remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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