The Veteran's claim for compensation benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 is being remanded due to the need for a supplemental opinion regarding whether his left vocal cord damage and speech difficulties were reasonably foreseeable complications of the VA lung cancer surgery, including consideration of informed consent.
The deciding factor: The claim requires an evaluation of whether the Veteran's additional disability was a reasonably foreseeable complication of the VA treatment, specifically the lung cancer surgery and subsequent prosthesis surgery. The current opinion is inadequate as it does not address these issues adequately.
- Claimed conditions
- speech difficulties, vocal cord damage
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 7, 2011
- Citation
- 1104917
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 1104917.
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 veteran's claims for service connection and a new claim to obtain additional VA treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a throat condition to schedule an appropriate VA compensation examination to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed throat condition.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions and denied entitlement to higher initial ratings for existing disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hypothyroidism, vocal cord damage, dry mouth disability, and dysphagia as the evidence did not show exposure to herbicide agents or other presumptive conditions during active duty.
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