The Board has not fully addressed the issues of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and whether his preexisting scleroderma was aggravated by service. The case is being remanded to obtain additional medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The decision does not specify a clear reasoning factor but emphasizes the need for further VA medical opinions regarding the Veteran’s conditions and their relation to service.
- Claimed conditions
- scleroderma, pulmonary edema, pulmonary hypertension, acute renal failure, metabolic acidosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19185094
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (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 19185094.
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 Veteran's service-connected disabilities have prevented him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment since June 30, 2018. The Board has granted a TDIU effective July 1, 2018.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, including hypertension and diabetes mellitus type II, are presumed to be related to his service in the Republic of Vietnam. The Board has granted service connection for these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of asthma, pulmonary edema, COPD, vascular disease, dementia, and gastroenteritis due to a lack of evidence regarding service connection.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to their death. The claims for special monthly compensation, scleroderma service connection, Raynaud's disease service connection, bilateral hearing loss rating, and PTSD rating are not currently before the Board.
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