The Veteran's claim for service connection for renal cell carcinoma of the right kidney due to Agent Orange exposure is being remanded as there is no positive association between exposure to herbicides and renal cell carcinoma.
The deciding factor: Renal cell carcinoma was not listed in the diseases covered by the presumption of service connection for herbicide exposure, so direct service connection must be considered.
- Claimed conditions
- renal cell carcinoma of the right kidney
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19165207
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (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 19165207.
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.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claimed conditions are not related to his in-service exposure to hazardous chemicals, and thus service connection is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding his claimed disorders and their relationship to in-service exposures.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for right radical nephrectomy, secondary to renal cell carcinoma of the right kidney and PTSD. The Board found no evidence linking these conditions to service or presumed Agent Orange exposure.
- Granted
The Board of Veterans' Appeals has granted service connection for PTSD and Mood Disorders, both presumed conditions under the PACT Act.
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