The Board has determined that a medical opinion is needed to address the Veteran's cause of death claim, specifically regarding whether asbestos exposure caused kidney disease and if the right leg below the knee amputation contributed to his death.
The deciding factor: The issue of service connection for the Veteran’s cause of death was not subject to a final decision at the time of the November 2016 rating decision due to it being reopened on new evidence. Therefore, a medical opinion is needed to address the two theories of entitlement raised by the Appellant.
- Claimed conditions
- Kidney disease, Right leg below the knee amputation
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186982
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,863 · Granted: 26% (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 19186982.
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 claims for service connection for PTSD, a kidney cyst (claimed as kidney abscess), kidney cancer, kidney disease, and benign prostatic hyperplasia due to lack of evidence supporting a link between these conditions and his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for PTSD and bilateral hearing loss, as well as service connection for kidney disease, GERD, bilateral knee condition, and bilateral arm condition. The TDIU claim was remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for non-allergic rhinitis, lung nodules, prostate cancer, and diabetes mellitus due to herbicide agent exposure. The claims for an ocular disorder and kidney disease were denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for liver transplant, kidney disease, and heart failure due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's exposure and medical records.
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