The Board has determined that a medical opinion is needed to determine if the Veteran's metastatic lung cancer was related to his service at Camp Lejeune, including exposure to contaminated drinking water.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner in October 2013 did not consider the Veteran's many years of service at Camp Lejeune during the period of water contamination.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 12, 2016
- Citation
- 1627607
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 1627607.
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 Veteran's cause of death, metastatic lung cancer, was found to be related to service and caused or contributed substantially to the Veteran's death. The Board granted entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma, which is presumed to be related to his exposure to herbicides during service in Vietnam. The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected metastatic lung cancer contributed substantially or materially to his death.,Entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 was dismissed as moot due to the grant of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's esophageal cancer, which caused his death, was related to his service exposure to herbicide agents.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and the cancer did not manifest to a compensable degree within one year after discharge from service. The Veteran was rated 100% disabled for his mental health disorder less than two years before his death, but he was not rated continuously for ten years preceding death or continuously since release from active duty for at least five years preceding death.
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