The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient rationale in the medical opinion regarding the cause of the Veteran's death and service connection for retroperitoneal liposarcoma. The AOJ is instructed to send the claims file to an examiner who will determine if the Veteran’s exposure to cleaning solvents during service or radiation treatment caused his conditions.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the medical opinion provided by the VA examiner was insufficient and did not address all relevant factors, including the risk of cancer from exposure to cleaning solvents and the etiology of pancreatic cancer following retroperitoneal liposarcoma treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- retroperitoneal liposarcoma, pancreatic adenocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19162329
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,500 · Granted: 29% (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 19162329.
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 pancreatic cancer, which should have been service-connected due to exposure to radiation during his military service, substantially contributed to his death. As a result, the claim for service connection for cause of death is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal for a survivor's pension was denied due to the appellant's countable income exceeding the maximum annual pension rate. The Board also remanded the issue of service connection for cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the DIC benefits claim due to lack of substantial compliance with its March 2022 remand directives. The survivor's pension claim is denied as the Appellant's income exceeds the maximum annual death pension rate.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cause of death, sepsis, was not related to in-service exposure to herbicide agents.,The service-connected diabetes mellitus did not contribute substantially or materially to the Veteran's death from sepsis.
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