The Board is requesting additional information and further development to determine the cause of death, including reviewing the autopsy report. The claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death will be adjudicated after this process.
The deciding factor: Further development is needed to obtain the autopsy report and review it in conjunction with other medical evidence to determine the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiorespiratory arrest, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, alcoholic liver disease
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 8, 2014
- Citation
- 1415456
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 1415456.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for pneumonia, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and asthma as causes of death. The evidence did not support finding that these conditions were related to his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by cardiorespiratory arrest and metastatic esophageal cancer. The appellant is recognized as the surviving spouse, but service connection for cause of death remains pending due to insufficient information on in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for TDIU prior to October 18, 2018 due to a lack of evidence showing that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities prevented him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and pneumonia due to insufficient evidence in the record. The Veteran's current diagnoses are not supported by the medical records provided.
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