The Board has reopened the claim to establish service connection for cause of death due to new and material evidence submitted by the appellant. However, the appeal is remanded as further development is needed to determine the primary cause of death and whether any in-service exposure to herbicide agents contributed to the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: Further investigation into the medical records and service history is required to accurately determine the cause of death and its relationship to service.
- Claimed conditions
- renal cell carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19182292
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 19182292.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for renal cell carcinoma with partial nephrectomy is remanded due to a lack of development regarding the relationship between his hypertension and the cancer. The AOJ must obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate physician to determine if the Veteran's hypertension caused or aggravated his renal cell carcinoma.
- Dismissed
Your appeal for service connection for renal cell carcinoma with partial nephrectomy has been dismissed because the issue was already validly appealed in a previous docket number.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for renal cell carcinoma is remanded due to the lack of a reasoned medical explanation connecting the facts of his case.
- Denied
The Board has denied the readjudication of service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, and renal cell carcinoma. The appeal regarding PTSD was withdrawn by the Veteran.
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