The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's cause of death, pancreatic cancer, is related to his service-connected kidney cancer. The examiner must provide a more definitive opinion based on the provided evidence and rationale.
The deciding factor: The VA addendum medical opinion is inadequate for adjudicative purposes as it does not reconcile its opinion with the submitted medical journal articles indicating a potential link between kidney cancer and pancreatic cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 8, 2020
- Citation
- 20065403
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 pancreatic cancer as there was no evidence of a nexus between the in-service toxic exposure and the current condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for cause of death to obtain a new medical opinion due to errors in previous examinations.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for pancreatic cancer, finding that the evidence is in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran's condition was due to his in-service exposure to toxic and environmental hazards.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for kidney cancer, finding that the Veteran's condition is related to his in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.