The Veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain a VA opinion regarding the relationship between his appendiceal and colonic cancer, presumed due to herbicide exposure in service, and his active service. Additionally, DIC claims are also being remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: A VA clinician must provide an opinion on whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's appendiceal and colonic cancer was causally related to his presumed herbicide exposure in service.
- Claimed conditions
- appendiceal cancer, colonic cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 23, 2016
- Citation
- 1633341
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 1633341.
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 service connection claims for appendiceal cancer and the cause of his death were denied. The Board found that there was no evidence to support a link between the Veteran's appendiceal cancer and herbicide exposure, nor did any medical opinion provide sufficient basis for such a finding.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for soft tissue carcinoma and cause of death due to service-connected disability. The remand requires obtaining additional medical opinions regarding the relationship between the Veteran's appendiceal cancer, which metastasized to the lungs and bones, and his presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases due to inadequate opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's appendiceal cancer and his service, specifically presumed exposure to herbicide agents. The cause of death claim is inextricably intertwined with the service connection claim.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, colonic cancer, was not incurred in service and is not etiologically related to service. The Board denied both the claim for service connection for cause of death and non-service connected death pension benefits.
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