The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents and the cause of his death. The VA will need to verify if the Veteran was exposed to Agent Orange during service, determine if diabetes mellitus contributed to his death, and obtain additional medical records.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there is not enough evidence to determine whether the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents caused his death or contributed to it. The case will be remanded for further investigation.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19190798
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 19190798.
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for chronic kidney disease was dismissed due to the Veteran not timely filing a Notice of Disagreement within one year of the rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a vitamin D deficiency and remanded claims for coronary artery disease, status post femoral bypass, chronic kidney disease, and anemia due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including GERD, chronic kidney disease, COPD, a heart condition, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, insomnia, and obstructive sleep apnea, as additional development is necessary to address the Veteran's exposure to toxic chemical agents during his service.
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