The Board has remanded the case due to conflicting evidence regarding service connection for skin cancers, including as due to exposure in service to Agent Orange. The appellant was exposed to Agent Orange during his service in Vietnam and developed skin cancers in 1998-99. The Secretary of VA has indicated that a presumption of service connection based upon exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam is not warranted for any form of skin cancer. A medical opinion is needed to determine the relationship between the appellant's post-service skin cancers and his exposure to Agent Orange or solar radiation.
The deciding factor: The conflicting evidence regarding the relationship between the appellant's post-service skin cancers and his exposure to Agent Orange or solar radiation requires a medical opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- skin cancers, basal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 6, 2004
- Citation
- 0403376
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,325 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0403376.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
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 decided to remand the case due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the Veteran's basal cell carcinoma. The Veteran is seeking service connection for this condition, which he claims was caused by exposure to water-based contaminants at Camp Lejeune during his military service.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection of squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and actinic keratosis as the appeal is considered duplicative of a previous decision.
- Partly granted
The Board has determined that the severance of service connection for neoplasm hard and soft tissue of the mouth was improper, as there is conflicting medical evidence regarding the cause of the condition. The Veteran's conditions are related to his active duty service.
- Granted
The Veteran's lung cancer and brain tumor are granted service connection, while his basal cell carcinoma (claimed as multiple myeloma) is denied. The Board found no evidence of herbicide exposure in Guam or elsewhere during active duty.
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