The Veteran's death was caused by metastatic colon cancer, which the appellant claims is related to his service. The Board finds that a VA medical opinion is needed to determine if the Veteran’s exposure to herbicide agents at least as likely as not directly caused his colon cancer.
The deciding factor: The May 2019 private opinion does not provide an adequate discussion of whether the Veteran's specific case of colon cancer was likely to have been caused by herbicide agent exposure, and thus a VA medical opinion is needed.
- Claimed conditions
- colon cancer, hypertension, kidney stones, colostomy, left leg disability, right leg blood clot, deep vein thrombosis of the left lower extremity, neuropathy, lung disability, heart disability, sleep apnea, spinal cancer tumor, stroke
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19153729
Veterans Law Judge
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 19153729.
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 has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has expanded the scope of the claim to include any mental health disorder raised by the record and has remanded for additional development regarding service connection for left leg, ankle, and psychiatric disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including VA examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to conflicting opinions regarding service connection for peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, and skin disabilities related to herbicide exposure.
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