The Veteran's death was not service-connected, and the cause of his death is being remanded for further investigation into herbicide exposure in Korea.
The deciding factor: Further investigation is needed to determine if the Veteran had herbicide exposure during his service in Korea which may be related to his death from malignant melanoma.
- Claimed conditions
- Malignant melanoma of brain, Malignant melanoma of thorax
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19161975
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,960 · Granted: 36% (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 19161975.
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
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