The Board has remanded the case due to the need for a new medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's death was caused by negligence or other fault on VA's part in treating him at the VA hospital prior to his death.
The deciding factor: The new medical opinion should discuss both the autopsy report and the appellant's assertions regarding negligent VA medical treatment
- Claimed conditions
- Potassium pill lodged in throat
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19187597
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,797 · 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 19187597.
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
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