The Veteran's death is remanded for a VA examiner to determine if the medication used to treat his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities was a principal or contributory cause of his death.
The deciding factor: A VA examiner must provide an opinion on whether the Veteran’s medication use was a principal or contributory cause of his death.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral knee disabilities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19161670
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 19161670.
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 granted the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to his service-connected bilateral foot and knee disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a right shoulder disability, bilateral knee disabilities, and low back disability due to insufficient evidence.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) based on aid and attendance due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Dismissed
The Board denied the veteran's appeals for timely filing of their requests to appeal various rating decisions, including those related to service connection and increased ratings for multiple conditions.
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