The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for further development due to potential exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam. The VA will need to verify if the Veteran was present within the 12-nautical mile territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The recent Federal Circuit decision requires additional verification of the Veteran's presence within the 12-nautical mile territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam during service in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) base of tongue, left shoulder disability, loss of sense of taste, numbness of the left side of face, neck, and chest, chronic fatigue, psychiatric disorder including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other stress-related disorders, residual scars related to cancer treatment as secondary to SCC base of tongue, neurological deficits, thyroid disorder, fatty liver (hepatic steatosis), heart disorder, gastrointestinal disorder, acid reflux, sleep disorder, hypertension, erectile dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19129063
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.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of October 21, 2021, for the grant of service connection for hypertension.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to ensure a proper examination and etiology opinion are provided.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
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