The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including low back pain, right knee pain, right ankle pain, right hip pain, left knee pain, GERD/reflux, mental health disorder, sleep apnea, and left shoulder pain, due to a duty to assist error regarding VA examinations.
The deciding factor: The failure to properly notify the Veteran of scheduled VA examinations is a duty to notify and a duty to assist error which must be corrected on remand.
- Claimed conditions
- low back pain, right knee pain, right ankle pain, right hip pain, left knee pain, gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD)/reflux, mental health disorder, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, or depression, sleep apnea and daytime hypersomnolence, left shoulder pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2025
- Citation
- A25091190
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 828 · 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 A25091190.
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 claim for service connection of a low back disability was reopened due to the submission of new and material evidence. The claim is denied as there is no evidence that the current condition is related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for heart disease, hypertension, kidney disease, and low back pain due to potential errors in duty to assist. The AOJ is required to verify the Veteran's alleged exposure to herbicide agents and obtain private treatment records.
- Partly granted
The claims for service connection for hypertension, back pain, right hip pain, left hip pain, right knee pain, and left knee pain have been readjudicated. The claim for sleep apnea has also been readjudicated.,Service connection has been granted for a neck condition, back pain, right hip pain, left hip pain, right knee pain, left knee pain, an acquired psychiatric disorder, bruxism, and vertigo.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection for compressed discs of the low back, left hip pain, and right hip pain due to procedural defects in filing a timely Notice of Disagreement (NOD).
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