The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to potential exposure to herbicide agents during service, and a medical opinion is needed to determine if the Veteran's cause of death was related to his in-service exposure.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran had qualifying service in Vietnam and in-service exposure to herbicide agents but acute myeloblastic leukemia is not included in the list of diseases entitled to presumptive service connection. A medical opinion is needed to determine if the cause of death was related to his in-service exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute myeloblastic leukemia, Renal failure, Anemia
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19184247
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (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 19184247.
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 the Veteran's claim of service connection for cause of death, finding that his service-connected conditions did not contribute to his death. The evidence showed well-controlled heart symptoms prior to death and no causal relationship between anxiety and cardiopulmonary disease or renal failure.
- Granted
The Veteran's hemorrhoids were rated at 20 percent from June 13, 2011. The Board found that the evidence demonstrated persistent bleeding and anemia secondary to the hemorrhoids throughout this period.
- Granted
The Veteran's effective date for SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance is set to March 11, 2021. He was granted a higher level of SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(p) at level (n).
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there is no evidence to support a causal relationship between the Veteran's military service and his death.
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