The Board remands the claims for service connection for osteoarthritis of the bilateral foot and hands as further development is needed to address the Veteran's reported pain and functional impairment.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, specifically the lack of a medical opinion addressing the Veteran's reported pain and its potential impact on his daily functioning.
- Claimed conditions
- osteoarthritis of the bilateral foot, osteoarthritis of the bilateral hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25088469
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 868 · 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 A25088469.
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 further development due to inadequate VA examinations in December 2019, which did not address positive evidence of record.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and TDIU due to outstanding SSA records that may contain relevant evidence. The earlier effective date claim is inextricably intertwined with the TDIU claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for a condition of the hands and fingers, sleep apnea, and hypertension due to additional development being required. The Veteran's representative provided new evidence in September 2020.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for osteoarthritis of the bilateral hands, bilateral knee disability, low back disability, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and carpal tunnel syndrome due to inadequate medical opinions regarding their etiology.
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