The Veteran's death was due to cardio respiratory arrest caused by chronic alcohol abuse. The Board has requested an additional medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents during service may have contributed to his death.
The deciding factor: The VA physician needs to provide a new opinion on whether the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents is at least as likely as not related to his cardio respiratory arrest and death.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic alcohol abuse, cardio respiratory arrest
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 28, 2017
- Citation
- 1730119
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 1730119.
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 cause of death and accrued benefits due to lack of timely filing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for an addendum opinion to determine if any of the Veteran's causes of death are related to his in-service exposure to environmental hazards.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to chronic alcohol abuse with hepatic cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, finding that there was no clear medical evidence establishing that alcohol abuse was caused by a primary service-connected disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical evidence and missing hospital records. They need to determine if type II diabetes caused or contributed to death, and whether the Veteran's death was caused by active service, a service-connected disability, or type II diabetes.
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