The Veteran's claim for service connection for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, claimed as stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx, is being remanded due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the relationship between herbicide exposure and the cancer.
The deciding factor: The VA clinician failed to address Dr. K. Z.'s reasoning that the severity of the Veteran's cancer and its rarity among Caucasians make a link with conceded herbicide exposure more likely.
- Claimed conditions
- nasopharyngeal carcinoma, stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19128057
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of August 10, 2022, for the award of service connection for nasopharyngeal carcinoma based on the Veteran's claim being filed within one year of the PACT Act's passage.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a compensable rating for papillary thyroid carcinoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but granted service connection for vocal cord paralysis and odynophagia as additional residual disabilities due to the service-connected nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- Granted
The Veteran's nasopharyngeal carcinoma is granted service connection due to herbicide exposure.,Residual vision disorder, face drop, and bone removal from right leg are all secondary to the Veteran's service-connected nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- Granted
The veteran's death was caused by metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which the VA physician who examined him concluded was due to his in-service herbicide exposure. The appellant is granted service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and on an accrued basis for nasopharyngeal cancer due to herbicide exposure.
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