The Board has decided that the Veteran's brain cancer may be related to herbicide agent exposure, but needs further medical opinion to determine this conclusively.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s initial opinion was inadequate and the Board requested an additional medical opinion as it is unclear if the Veteran's GBM is related to his service due to Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Brain cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2020
- Citation
- 20020719
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 20020719.
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 claims for service connection for brain cancer, low back disability, and cervical spine disability due to a pre-decisional error in failing to obtain a radiation dose estimate from the Under Secretary for Health. The Veteran's military service aboard USS ENTERPRISE is considered relevant to his exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Granted
The Veteran's brain cancer is granted as service-connected due to in-service herbicide exposure, specifically Agent Orange.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection for brain cancer as of August 14, 2018 is granted due to a link between his in-service toxic exposure and his diagnosed condition. Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death to obtain a new VA opinion considering the appellant's submitted favorable medical and scientific literature.
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