The Veteran's claim for service connection for pulmonary asbestosis is being remanded due to missing service records and the need for additional development, including obtaining private medical records and Worker's Compensation records.
The deciding factor: Service connection cannot be established without evidence of in-service asbestos exposure. The Board needs to review all available evidence, including new information on asbestos exposure before and after service, to determine if it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's current pulmonary condition was incurred or aggravated during his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- pulmonary asbestosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2012
- Citation
- 1210968
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 1210968.
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 a respiratory disorder, including interstitial lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, and pulmonary asbestosis, due to in-service asbestos exposure.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed because his representative withdrew the appeal prior to a decision being made.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal of a compensable disability rating for pulmonary asbestosis due to a remand in another case, and no new claim was filed between the previous decision and this one.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical evidence to determine the severity of the Veteran's pulmonary asbestosis during the period on appeal, and whether it is possible to separate its effects from his non-service-connected renal cancer with metastasis to the lung.
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