The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for metastatic lung cancer and the cause of the Veteran's death due to inextricably intertwined issues. The appellant must be notified about her rights as a substitute or accrued benefits claimant, and the AOJ should make a substitution determination.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that the appellant must be specifically notified about her rights to pursue the service connection claims as either a substitute or an accrued benefit claimant and then following a response, the AOJ must make a substitution determination.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic lung cancer, cause of death
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19123737
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 remands the claim for a clarifying opinion on whether the Veteran's service-connected disabilities caused his death through obesity as an intermediate step.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for cause of death due to a need for additional evidence, specifically an autopsy report and a medical opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, to include as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation, due to lack of substantial compliance with previous remand directives.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the service connection claims for various cancers and eye conditions due to an alleged failure to properly investigate toxic exposures during service, including at Fort Wainwright.
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