The veteran's claims for cervical strain, low back disability, and right knee disability are being remanded due to the need for additional development. The Board will address these issues in a future decision.
The deciding factor: The veteran did not serve in Vietnam or any other area where Agent Orange was used, thus he is not entitled to presumptive service connection based on exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- Hodgkin's disease
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 18, 2004
- Citation
- 0412780
Veterans Law Judge
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 0412780.
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 Veteran's cause of death, dermal lymphoma, is presumed to be service-connected due to in-service herbicide agent exposure. Accrued benefits are denied as no claim was pending at the time of his death.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for Hodgkin's disease, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor. The claim for restrictive lung disease was remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and various increased rating claims, as well as effective date claims, while remanding the claim for service connection for Hodgkin's disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the veteran's claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and Hodgkin's disease. The Board found that the VA did not adequately address the veteran's claimed exposures and symptoms.
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