The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 is remanded due to the need for a VA medical opinion outside of the Houston VAMC regarding the etiology and causation of any disability resulting from the neck port placement during his cancer treatment.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion was obtained from the same VA Medical Center that conducted the Veteran’s surgery, which may have influenced the opinion. The Board finds further clarification is needed to address the lay statements advanced by the Veteran and his wife at their hearing.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of neck port placement, hepatitis C
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2020
- Citation
- 20066805
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 hepatitis C, jaundice, hypogeusia, and hyposmia as there was no evidence of a current disability during the pendency of the claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied service connection for hepatitis C and remanded the claim for a heart disability due to insufficient evidence.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for hepatitis C, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to an initial compensable disability rating for service-connected hepatitis C due to an inadequate VA examination and medical opinions.
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