The Veteran's death was caused by his service-connected conditions, but the VA did not provide a sufficient medical opinion to support this conclusion. The death pension claim is also remanded due to incomplete information provided by the Appellant.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the May 2016 VA medical opinion was inadequate and thus remanded for an addendum opinion. Additionally, the death pension claim was not fully developed as the Appellant did not provide earnings from wages during 2013.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic myelogenous leukemia, blast crisis leukemia
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19151623
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,500 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19151623.
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 Veteran's chronic myelogenous leukemia is presumed to be related to in-service herbicide exposure, but a medical opinion is needed to determine if it is directly linked.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error and requires further examination to determine if the Veteran's leukemia disability is related to service, including toxic exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for an addendum etiology opinion to determine if the Veteran's chronic myelogenous leukemia was incurred in or caused by military service, including conceded exposure to herbicide agents during service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic myelogenous leukemia based on the Veteran's presumed exposure to fine particulate matter during his service in Southwest Asia.
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