The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip is related to service, specifically exposure at Camp Lejeune.
The deciding factor: The examiner needs to provide an opinion on whether the Veteran’s squamous cell carcinoma is directly related to service, including contaminants in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19192442
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,451 · Granted: 22% (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 19192442.
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 service connection for prostate disability, Parkinson’s disease, squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip, squamous cell carcinoma of the left ear, left knee disability, tumor on the chin, and facial tumor as there was no evidence of in-service injury or exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip and remanded the issue of service connection for hypertension due to lack of a VA opinion addressing whether it is related to or aggravated by service-connected cardiac ventricular arrhythmia.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the veteran's squamous cell carcinoma of the face, including as secondary to herbicide exposure, is related to active service and grants service connection for this condition.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for carcinoma of the lower lip and emphysema, both claimed as secondary to tobacco use in service. The evidence did not support a finding that nicotine dependence was acquired during service or that post-service tobacco use caused these conditions.
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