The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for a genitourinary disability, to include prostate cancer, due to environmental exposures in Southwest Asia (burn pits and depleted uranium). The case is being sent back for further examination and opinion.
The deciding factor: The June 2016 examiner’s opinion was inadequate as it did not consider the Veteran's lay statements or the August 2017 web article suggesting a causal relationship between service in Iraq and prostate cancer due to depleted uranium exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- prostate cancer, genitourinary disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19170435
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 19170435.
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 denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for prostate cancer, bone cancer, and lymph node cancer has been granted. The prostate cancer is presumed due to herbicide agent exposure during service at RTAFB Takhli. Bone cancer is secondary to the service-connected prostate cancer. Lymph node cancer is also considered secondary to prostate cancer.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for prostate cancer but remanded the claim for PTSD due to insufficient verification of stressor incidents.
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