The Veteran's service connection claim for skin cancer, including as due to exposure to herbicides, is being remanded. The VA examiner must provide an opinion on whether the Veteran's diagnosed skin cancers are at least as likely as not caused by his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner was unable to provide a definitive opinion without resorting to speculation because there is no evidence of any disease presumptively associated with exposure to herbicides in the Veteran's case.
- Claimed conditions
- melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), basal cell carcinoma (BCC)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19111704
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19111704.
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 has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for melanoma, to include SCC of the right hand, finding that it is at least as likely as not caused by exposure to radiation during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for hypertension, equilibrium disorder (claimed as bad balance and equilibrium), bilateral restless leg syndrome, bilateral upper extremity tremor, melanoma, and acquired psychiatric disability due to a lack of adequate medical opinions regarding exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune and Agent Orange in Japan.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining a VA medical opinion regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed blood clots in the left leg. The claim for service connection for basal cell carcinoma (BCC) remains denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, hypertension, and melanoma. The Veteran's claims were based on exposure to herbicides at Fort McClellan, but the evidence did not establish actual exposure.
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