The Board has determined that additional evidence is needed to determine the cause of the Veteran's death and to adjudicate his claims for service connection for the cause of death and burial benefits. The appellant will be asked to provide releases for relevant medical records, including those from Cape Canaveral Hospital.
The deciding factor: The Board needs to obtain medical records from Cape Canaveral Hospital to evaluate whether the Veteran's diabetes mellitus or coronary artery disease was a principal cause of his death and to determine if his presumed herbicide exposure contributed to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- cecal mass, hepatic metastasis
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 4, 2013
- Citation
- 1300299
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 1300299.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by his service-connected conditions, and he did not meet the criteria for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for pancreatic carcinoma, status-post Whipple procedure and chemotherapy, with hepatic metastasis as a result of exposure to herbicides is being remanded due to the need for a Travel Board hearing.
- Granted
The Board of Veterans' Appeals has granted service connection for PTSD and Mood Disorders, both presumed conditions under the PACT Act.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
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