The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA medical opinion and a need for further examination. The Veteran's claims of service connection for cancers involving his tonsils, lungs, and esophagus are being reviewed again with consideration of his in-service complaints and presumed exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
The deciding factor: The Board found the previous VA medical opinion inadequate due to a Stegall violation and ordered further examination and an opinion on the likelihood that the Veteran's current conditions are related to his service, specifically his in-service complaints of sore throat.
- Claimed conditions
- cancers of the soft palate, lungs, esophagus, tonsils, throat
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 4, 2020
- Citation
- 20058709
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 20058709.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hernia, brain tumor, heart, esophagus, kidney, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and thyroid. The claim for bilateral hearing loss was remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not related to his military service, and he did not meet the criteria for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient rationale in the previous VA examination regarding the Veteran's oropharyngeal cancer and exposure to burn pits. The claim will be reviewed again with a new opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of medical expenses at Robinson Memorial Hospital is remanded due to the need for additional development, including obtaining relevant scanned records from VA treatment records.
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