The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of medical opinion regarding whether hepatitis B, noted as significant in the death certificate, is related to viral hepatitis found in service. The Veteran's cause of death must be evaluated for potential service connection.
The deciding factor: The VA needs to obtain an expert medical opinion on the relationship between the Veteran’s in-service diagnosis and his post-deadline death condition.
- Claimed conditions
- viral hepatitis, hepatitis B
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20001576
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a neck disability, back disability, GERD, hepatitis B, atopic dermatitis, and OSA. Tinnitus was denied.
- Dismissed
The Board denied the veteran's requests for extensions of time to file appeals regarding rating decisions that denied service connection for hepatitis B and tinnitus, finding no good cause for late filings.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for 20 conditions including depression, anxiety, and traumatic brain injury, finding insufficient evidence of in-service incurrence or nexus. The Board remanded three conditions (back condition, left lower extremity neuropathy, and left leg condition) for further adjudication.
- Granted
The Board granted an initial disability rating of 40 percent for hepatitis B, but not higher.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.