The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a dose estimate and a retrospective opinion regarding whether the Veteran's cause of death was related to his service exposure to ionizing radiation. The claim will be reconsidered based on this additional information.
The deciding factor: Further development is required as the claims file needs to be provided to an Under Secretary for Health for a radiation dose estimate, and a retrospective opinion from a clinician regarding the etiology of the Veteran's cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Myelodysplastic syndrome
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20004902
Veterans Law Judge
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 20004902.
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 Veteran's case is being remanded due to a duty-to-assist error and the inextricability of his TDIU claim with his MDS residuals.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, as there was no evidence to support a finding that the Veteran's death was related to his active service or any in-service injury or disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied the appellant's claim for entitlement to nonservice-connected (NSC) survivor's pension benefits due to a lack of active service during a period of war. The case was remanded to further investigate potential toxic exposure and obtain additional medical evidence regarding the Veteran's cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's death was attributable to VA care, specifically an incompatible blood transfusion.
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