The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for an additional medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's nasopharyngeal carcinoma was at least as likely as not due to presumed herbicide exposure. The examiner is asked to consider both smoking and Agent Orange exposure in their assessment.
The deciding factor: The Board found that another addendum opinion is required to address the connection between the Veteran’s nasopharyngeal carcinoma and presumed herbicide exposure, considering his history of smoking as well.
- Claimed conditions
- nasopharyngeal carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19162218
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 19162218.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of August 10, 2022, for the award of service connection for nasopharyngeal carcinoma based on the Veteran's claim being filed within one year of the PACT Act's passage.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a compensable rating for papillary thyroid carcinoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but granted service connection for vocal cord paralysis and odynophagia as additional residual disabilities due to the service-connected nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- Granted
The Veteran's nasopharyngeal carcinoma is granted service connection due to herbicide exposure.,Residual vision disorder, face drop, and bone removal from right leg are all secondary to the Veteran's service-connected nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, claimed as stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx, is being remanded due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the relationship between herbicide exposure and the cancer.
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