The Veteran's death is remanded due to the need for a VA medical opinion regarding whether in-service exposure to herbicide agents caused or contributed to his glioblastoma primary brain tumor.
The deciding factor: The decision requires additional evidence from a VA medical expert on the cause of the Veteran’s death and its relation to service.
- Claimed conditions
- glioblastoma primary brain tumor
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20002719
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,242 · Granted: 24% (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 20002719.
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 Veteran's death was caused by glioblastoma, a brain tumor, which the VA has determined was likely due to his in-service exposure to herbicide agents. The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death based on this presumption.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between in-service herbicide exposure and the Veteran's glioblastoma primary brain tumor.
- Granted
The Board of Veterans' Appeals has granted service connection for PTSD and Mood Disorders, both presumed conditions under the PACT Act.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
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