The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient opinions regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disorder caused or contributed substantially to his death.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there are no adequate opinions addressing the contention of the appellant’s representative and thus requires a new opinion on cause of death and its relationship to service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute cocaine and fentanyl intoxication, Arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19152937
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,062 · Granted: 34% (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 19152937.
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 Board finds that there is a question of fact regarding whether an effective date prior to December 26, 2007, for the grant of DIC benefits is warranted. The case is being remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not service-connected, and the Board denied entitlement to Special Monthly Pension based on need for aid and attendance or being housebound.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was not due to willful misconduct and he did not meet the criteria for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, as his death was not caused by a service-connected disability.
- Granted
New evidence has been submitted suggesting the Veteran's cause of death was related to his service exposure to Agent Orange. The claim for service connection is being readjudicated.
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