The Board has determined that more development is necessary for the service connection claims, including a review of new evidence submitted by the appellant's representative regarding exposure to burn pits and particulate matter during Southwest Asia service. The case will be remanded for further action.
The deciding factor: The July 2019 VA examiner did not provide sufficient rationale for what would qualify as 'special circumstances' that would warrant such cancers to be service connected for exposure to chemical and burn pit toxins during Southwest Asia service.
- Claimed conditions
- lung cancer, pancreatic cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19179283
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 granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his lung cancer was related to his service-connected melanoma.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for pancreatic cancer as there was no evidence of a nexus between the in-service toxic exposure and the current condition.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for pancreatic cancer, finding that the evidence is in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran's condition was due to his in-service exposure to toxic and environmental hazards.
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