The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining a VA medical opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's APL and his in-service exposure to benzene. The claim will be reconsidered based on this new evidence.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the current decision is not about service connection at all but rather about whether the Veteran's APL is related to his reported in-service exposure to benzene, which requires further medical evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2014
- Citation
- 1402144
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 1402144.
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
Service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) was granted, as it was related to herbicide exposure during service.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) is not causally related to his military service, including exposure to chemicals and benzene. The claim for service connection is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's death was caused by a service-connected disability, acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), which the Board found to be related to in-service benzene exposure. Service connection for the cause of death is granted.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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