The Board has denied service connection for hepatitis and remanded the issue of service connection for cholangiocarcinoma (claimed as liver cancer). The denial is based on a lack of evidence of current disability. Service connection for cholangiocarcinoma will be remanded to obtain a VA opinion regarding its etiology.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not have any functional impairment resulting from hepatitis, and there was no current diagnosis of the condition in his records.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatitis, cholangiocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19161630
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,217 · Granted: 46% (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 19161630.
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 has determined that the Veteran's cholangiocarcinoma is related to his military service, specifically exposure to Agent Orange during service in Vietnam. After considering all evidence and resolving all doubts in favor of the Veteran, the Board granted service connection for cholangiocarcinoma.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death is due to cholangiocarcinoma, which was diagnosed in 1988 and presumed to be caused by herbicide exposure during service. The appellant filed a DIC application on November 27, 1989, and the claim was granted with an effective date of November 27, 1989.
- Partly granted
The Board has granted service connection for hepatitis C and secondary service connection for cirrhosis of the liver, both determined to be related to in-service hepatitis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the failure to schedule VA examinations related to his claimed disabilities. The Board finds that there was a pre-decisional error in not ensuring proper communication with the Veteran.
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