The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for liver disability, digestive disability, and blood disability as secondary to liver disability due to potential herbicide exposure during active service. The Veteran's private provider noted a reasonable suspicion that his cirrhosis with liver failure may be related to herbicide agent exposure.
The deciding factor: The Board found insufficient evidence to establish the relationship between the Veteran's current disabilities and in-service herbicide exposure, necessitating further examination and development of the claims.
- Claimed conditions
- liver disability, digestive disability, blood disability
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2020
- Citation
- 20003607
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,455 · Granted: 23% (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 20003607.
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 has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate nexus opinions and a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The claims are related to his service-connected PTSD.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, cervical spine disability, low back disability, left shoulder disability, and left leg disability. The decision is based on the Veteran's active duty service and his current disabilities are found to be related to these service events.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran does not have a current disability for the conditions he is seeking service connection for, and thus denied these claims. The appeal was also remanded for additional examinations related to other disabilities.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of a liver disability has been dismissed due to the withdrawal by his attorney prior to the Board making a decision.
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