The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's head and neck cancers were related to herbicide exposure in Vietnam. The appellant must provide an additional VA medical opinion on this issue.
The deciding factor: The March 2017 VA medical opinion did not adequately address whether the Veteran’s head and neck cancers were etiologically related to herbicide exposure as they were not enumerated diseases associated with exposure to herbicide agents.
- Claimed conditions
- head and neck cancer
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19189733
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 19189733.
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 Board granted entitlement to dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) based upon service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, specifically head and neck cancer, which was found to be causally related to his herbicide exposure during service in Vietnam.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death due to his head and neck cancer, which is considered a respiratory cancer associated with herbicide exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's cancer originated in his larynx, which is a key factor for determining service connection. Additional medical records are needed to make this determination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete medical records and a need for a VA medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's death was related to his service, including treatment for sarcoidosis.
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