The Board has remanded the cases for further development and an opinion from a specialist regarding the cause of death. The Veteran's cause of death is listed as cholangiocarcinoma, but no records have been obtained to determine its onset or etiology.
The deciding factor: The Board found that additional medical records are needed to determine the cause of the Veteran's cholangiocarcinoma and whether it was related to his service in Thailand.
- Claimed conditions
- Cholangiocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19120962
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 19120962.
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 service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that the evidence did not support a causal link between the Veteran's cholangiocarcinoma and his military service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his cholangiocarcinoma was at least as likely as not related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus and/or in-service herbicide agent exposure.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his cholangiocarcinoma was related to in-service exposure to herbicide agents and/or parasitic infection.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, cholangiocarcinoma due to adenocarcinoma of the bile duct, was not found to be related to service. The Board denied service connection for the cause of death as there was no evidence linking the cancer to service.
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