The Board has remanded the case due to the need for a new VA medical opinion regarding the cause of the Veteran's death, specifically whether his liver cancer or hepatitis C is related to his active duty service.
The deciding factor: The decision was remanded because the parties agreed that a remand was necessary to obtain a new VA medical opinion addressing the likely cause of the Veteran’s death and considering various factors including in-service exposure and surgical procedures.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatitic C cirrhosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19111844
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (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 19111844.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for cause of the Veteran's death, tonsillar cancer (lymphoma), and DIC benefits due to a duty-to-assist error regarding an adequate VA etiological opinion. The remand includes obtaining a new VA opinion on the etiology of the Veteran's hypertension.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his primary or contributory causes of death were not caused by his military service or related to his service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's death was due to metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma, which is service-connected. The lung disability is also service-connected as it is a result of the liver cancer.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was due to metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis C cirrhosis, which the Board found were not related to his military service.
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