The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for psychiatric disability, hypertension, prostate disability, and headaches due to failure to make reasonable efforts to contact the Veteran for an informal hearing conference.
The deciding factor: The Board found that VA did not satisfy the 'reasonable efforts' element of 38 C.F.R. § 3.2601(h) in contacting the Veteran for an informal hearing conference, and thus remanded the case for further development.
- Claimed conditions
- Psychiatric disability, Hypertension, Prostate disability, Headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 11, 2026
- Citation
- A26022204
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 A26022204.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of his psychiatric disability was the initial decision, and thus attorney fees are not eligible based on past due benefits awarded in April 2025.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
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