The claim cannot be resolved based on the evidence of record and requires further development, including clarification of the cause of death, verification of service in Vietnam, and obtaining additional medical opinions.
The deciding factor: Further development is necessary to clarify the cause of death and determine if it is related to herbicide exposure during service in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- failure to thrive, end-stage squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 16, 2008
- Citation
- 0816197
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 684 · Granted: 25% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0816197.
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 matter of service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, as there is a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding the Veteran's prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal is remanded to correct errors in the duty-to-assist process. The Board will consider new evidence on whether the Veteran's service-connected diabetes contributed to his death.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death is granted presumptively due to herbicide exposure, specifically Agent Orange. Accrued benefits are denied as no claim was pending at the time of his death.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected parasomnia contributed to his development of myocardial infarction, which ultimately led to his death. The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
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