The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate opinions and further development is needed. The Veteran's autoimmune hepatitis will be evaluated for service connection, including consideration of herbicide exposure and any aggravation by service-connected conditions.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the previous opinions were insufficient and required a new medical opinion to address the etiology of the Veteran's autoimmune hepatitis, including considering potential links to Agent Orange exposure and chloroquine-primaquine tablets used during service for malaria prevention.
- Claimed conditions
- autoimmune hepatitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19146901
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 appeal for service connection for depression was dismissed as it is subsumed by the already service-connected PTSD. A 50 percent rating for cluster headaches was granted, and a higher rating for autoimmune hepatitis was denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for autoimmune hepatitis, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran. The appeal regarding an initial compensable evaluation for hypertension was dismissed.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding that her autoimmune hepatitis was related to her in-service Camp Lejeune exposures.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for an initial compensable evaluation for autoimmune hepatitis because the condition was asymptomatic.
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