The Board has determined that further development is needed before the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death can be decided. The appellant needs to be provided with VCAA notice, and VA will attempt to obtain terminal treatment records from a private hospital where the Veteran died. A VA physician should provide an opinion on whether the Veteran's metastatic liver cancer is related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that further development was needed due to incomplete information and notification issues.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic liver cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 26, 2012
- Citation
- 1202888
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 1202888.
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 has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions and potential errors in legal standards. The claims will be reconsidered with new opinions addressing the etiology of the Veteran's colon cancer, including its relationship to his military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that his metastatic liver cancer was at least as likely as not related to exposure to herbicides during active service. The decision is based on a private medical opinion supporting this conclusion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty to assist error regarding service connection for cause of death. An addendum opinion is needed to determine if the Veteran's cancer is related to in-service herbicide exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for colon cancer and metastatic liver cancer due to an inadequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents during his active service in Vietnam.
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