The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical evidence regarding the Veteran's skin disorders and their relationship to his service, specifically his exposure to herbicide agents. The Veteran is required to provide records of all treatment for his skin conditions, and an addendum opinion must be provided by a clinician addressing the nature and etiology of his diagnosed skin conditions.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the medical opinions were inadequate as they did not consider the Veteran's lay statements regarding the onset and chronicity of symptoms related to his service exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- intertrigo, seborrheic keratoses, actinic keratosis, tine cruris, squamous cell carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 24, 2020
- Citation
- 20005126
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 appeal for service connection for skin cancer was dismissed due to untimeliness, while the claim for squamous cell carcinoma was granted.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the claim for service connection for headaches and remanded claims for service connection for various other conditions, including open angle glaucoma, sensorineural hearing loss, asthma, heart disease, bladder cancer, and squamous cell carcinoma.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for squamous cell carcinoma, finding that the Veteran's condition is related to his active service, including conceded in-service exposure to Agent Orange.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that squamous cell carcinoma was a complication of his service-connected hidradenitis suppurativa.
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