The claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is reopened, but further evaluation by a VA specialist is needed to determine if any other immediate or contributory causes of the Veteran’s death are related to service, including herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: A VA opinion is required to evaluate whether any other immediate or contributory causes of the Veteran’s death—pneumonia, bone marrow suppression, chemotherapy, and gastronomy tube infection—are related to service, including herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- larynx cancer, respiratory cancer
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19121875
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,037 · Granted: 21% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19121875.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for tonsillar cancer (claimed as throat and respiratory cancer) due to a lack of evidence showing that his condition began during active service or is related to an in-service injury or disease, including presumed exposure to herbicide agents and contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for larynx cancer, finding that there is at least an even balance of evidence to support a link between the condition and toxic exposures in service. The decision resolves any doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board granted service connection for respiratory cancer as secondary to the Veteran's already service-connected throat cancer.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The veteran's appeal for service connection and increased rating for larynx cancer was dismissed due to untimeliness.
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