The Board has determined that additional development is needed to determine the cause of the veteran's death and whether his service-connected conditions contributed to it. The case will be returned for further action.
The deciding factor: Additional evidence, including VA treatment records and a pathologist's report from a lung biopsy, needs to be obtained in order to properly assess the cause of the veteran's death and determine if his service-connected conditions played a role.
- Claimed conditions
- lung metastases, nasopharyngeal carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 2, 2007
- Citation
- 0703291
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 0703291.
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 Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's cause of death due to recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma, finding that it is at least as likely as not related to exposure to herbicides in service, including Agent Orange.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of August 10, 2022, for the award of service connection for nasopharyngeal carcinoma based on the Veteran's claim being filed within one year of the PACT Act's passage.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a compensable rating for papillary thyroid carcinoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but granted service connection for vocal cord paralysis and odynophagia as additional residual disabilities due to the service-connected nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma was related to in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
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