The Veteran's cause of death is remanded for a medical opinion on whether his military service resulted in the disease that caused his death, and whether his service-connected disabilities contributed to his death. Non-service-connected death pension benefits eligibility is also remanded.
The deciding factor: The Board found no evidence to support DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 due to the Veteran not meeting the criteria for continuous total disability ratings, and there were no claims pending at the time of his death that could be the basis for an accrued benefits claim.
- Claimed conditions
- Diabetes mellitus, type II, Metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20036742
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 20036742.
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 a duty to assist error, specifically regarding the lack of development related to Agent Orange exposure and solvent/asbestos exposure.
- Granted
The Board has granted effective dates of August 10, 2022 for hypertension and July 25, 2023 for diabetes mellitus, type II, bilateral lower extremity diabetic peripheral neuropathy, a bilateral hearing loss disability, and tinnitus.,The Veteran's conditions were found to have manifested no later than the dates specified in their respective effective dates.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date for DIC benefits, finding that the Appellant's claim was not properly reopened and that the earliest available effective date is June 14, 2021.
- Granted
The Veteran's spouse is granted an effective date of April 12, 2022 for dependency compensation based on the establishment of a disability rating in the percentage evaluation specified by law.
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