The Veteran's death was due to a pulmonary embolism. The appellant seeks service connection for this condition based on exposure to herbicides, specifically Agent Orange. The Board has ordered additional development including obtaining the Veteran’s military personnel records and verifying his exposure to herbicide agents. A VA medical opinion is needed to determine if there is a relationship between the Veteran's death and his in-service exposure to herbicides.
The deciding factor: The Board found that while the Veteran did not have one of the diseases presumptively associated with herbicide exposure, service connection may also be granted for a disease claimed as due to herbicide exposure on a direct service connection basis if any such exposure is verified.
- Claimed conditions
- Pulmonary Embolism
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186465
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19186465.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for Persistent Depressive Disorder is denied. The Board has also remanded the issue of service connection for Pulmonary Embolism due to predecisional duty to assist errors.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of pulmonary embolism, finding that it is secondary to her service-connected PCOS.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's pulmonary embolism is secondary to his service-connected heart disability and grants service connection for this condition.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board dismissed the Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for pulmonary embolism, but the Veteran has since expressed that she did not intend to withdraw her claim. The case is now remanded for further review.
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