The veteran is seeking service connection for cancer of the esophagus and gastric cardia, which he claims was caused by exposure to Agent Orange during his military service. The VA has not provided proper notification under the VCAA and needs to provide additional evidence and consider the claim again.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to properly notify the veteran of the provisions of the VCAA and did not obtain all necessary evidence for consideration of the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- cancer of the esophagus, gastric cardia
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 26, 2004
- Citation
- 0413481
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 0413481.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's left eye condition is related to service, as it found that the condition did not preexist service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for prostate cancer, related to in-service exposures at Camp Lejeune.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted an effective date of August 10, 2022, for the grant of service connection for sinusitis based on the PACT Act.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of service connection for prostate cancer to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's toxic exposure risk activities.
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