The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining medical records and providing a VA opinion on whether any of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities contributed to his death or were related to his military service. The appellant is also being asked to provide information about her eligibility to be recognized as a substitute for the pending claim.
The deciding factor: The case was remanded due to incomplete medical records and the need for additional development, including obtaining relevant treatment records and providing a VA opinion on the Veteran's cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- advanced dementia
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2015
- Citation
- 1554431
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 1554431.
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 granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected bilateral foot and lower extremity disabilities contributed to his death by causing a fall that resulted in a femur fracture.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected head injury substantially contributed to his development of dementia which caused his death. The decision is based on medical opinions supporting this conclusion.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not caused by his service-connected disabilities and he did not meet the criteria for SMC based on need for aid and attendance or housebound status.
- Denied
The Board denied reopening the claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death and DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 due to lack of new and material evidence.
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