The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim of service connection for bladder cancer to include as due to herbicide agent exposure. The case is being returned for an addendum opinion from a medical professional to address whether the Veteran's bladder cancer began in or is related to active service, specifically his documented service in the Republic of Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The January 2016 VA examiner's opinion was inadequate because it relied on the fact that bladder cancer is not on the list of presumptive diseases associated with herbicide exposure, and therefore could not support the Veteran’s claim of direct service connection. The Board now requires an addendum opinion to address whether the Veteran's bladder cancer is related to his exposure to herbicide agents during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bladder cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19130413
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 service connection for bladder cancer, diabetes mellitus, type 2, and an acquired psychiatric disability (unspecified depressive disorder), but denied a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a compensable evaluation for bladder cancer as there was no evidence of voiding dysfunction or renal dysfunction, and the GFR was over 90.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for an increased rating for coronary artery disease, service connection for bladder cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- Granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of February 27, 2017, for the award of special monthly compensation (SMC) based on loss of use of creative organ.
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