The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for peripheral artery disease, both left and right lower extremities, due to a duty to assist error in not obtaining an opinion regarding but-for causation or worsening of symptoms due to hypertension.
The deciding factor: The Veteran is entitled to secondary service connection as his current diagnosis of peripheral artery disease may be caused by or aggravated by his service-connected isolated systolic hypertension.
- Claimed conditions
- Peripheral artery disease
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2026
- Citation
- A26027047
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 A26027047.
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 has denied service connection for peripheral artery disease and atherosclerosis, bilateral above-the-knee amputations, and right arm disability status-post two strokes. The claim of eligibility for VA outpatient dental treatment was dismissed due to the absence of an initial determination by VHA.
- Denied
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed, and the claims for a compensable rating for the lower back scar, service connection for COPD, and peripheral artery disease were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hip pain, GERD, supraventricular tachycardia/atrial fibrillation, and peripheral artery disease as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected mechanical low back pain with degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's service connection for peripheral artery disease was granted, and a 10 percent disability rating from January 1, 2014, to August 29, 2016, for bladder cancer residuals based on urinary obstruction was also granted.
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