The Veteran's service connection claim for prostate cancer is remanded due to the need to verify his presence in the territorial waters of Vietnam while stationed aboard USS Forrestal and/or USS America.
The deciding factor: The Federal Circuit Court ruled that service in the Republic of Vietnam includes service in the territorial waters of Vietnam, which extend 12 miles from shore. The RO must contact the JSRRC to determine if the Veteran served in these waters during his active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- adenocarcinoma of the prostate
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2020
- Citation
- 20000524
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, adenocarcinoma of the prostate, and erectile dysfunction due to inadequate toxic exposure risk activities (TERA) memoranda and a need for additional medical opinions.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a total 100 percent rating for adenocarcinoma of the prostate, beginning February 26, 2018, due to a PSA level above 4.0 indicating local recurrence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's death, finding no evidence that his prostate cancer, heart disease, or cerebrovascular disease were related to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for service-connected adenocarcinoma of the prostate, status post radiation therapy was denied. The rating prior to February 12, 2013 was found not to meet criteria for a higher than 10 percent rating due to voiding dysfunction or urinary tract infection symptoms. For the period as of February 12, 2013, the Veteran's condition did not warrant a higher than 20 percent rating based on his reported symptoms and medical evidence.
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