The Board has remanded the case due to deficiencies in the prior VA examinations and medical opinions, particularly regarding the relationship between the Veteran's service-connected shrapnel wounds and his mucinous adenocarcinoma.
The deciding factor: CAVC found that the Board erred by relying on an inadequate June 2018 VA oncologist opinion to deny service connection for the residuals of the Veteran’s claimed cancer on a direct basis, due to insufficient evidence addressing potential causal relationship between Agent Orange exposure and mucinous adenocarcinomas.
- Claimed conditions
- mucinous adenocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 5, 2020
- Citation
- 20031374
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 20031374.
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 remands the claim for a more adequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's cause of death, considering both in-service exposures and post-service risk factors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, mucinous adenocarcinoma, heart condition, and bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy to allow verification of herbicide agent exposure in Okinawa, Japan, and to obtain new VA examinations.
- Granted
The Veteran's Crohn’s disease and mucinous adenocarcinoma are granted service connection for purposes of accrued benefits. The cause of death is also granted as service-connected.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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