The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient clarification of the causal connection between the Veteran's renal cell carcinoma and his service, specifically his presumed exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The October 2017 VA examiner needs to provide clarification regarding whether the Veteran’s renal cell carcinoma was directly related to his service, including his presumed exposure to herbicide agents while stationed in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of renal cell carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 27, 2020
- Citation
- 20069514
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,911 · Granted: 10% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 20069514.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of renal cell carcinoma, finding an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence indicating that the condition was incurred in service due to exposure to herbicides like Agent Orange.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the relationship between the Veteran's renal cell carcinoma and his military service, specifically exposure to herbicide agents. The VA is instructed to obtain an addendum opinion from a medical expert to address whether the Veteran's condition is related to his presumed exposure to Agent Orange during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for residuals of renal cell carcinoma due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error, requiring a VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA examinations and private treatment records are inadequate for adjudication purposes. Therefore, the claims of entitlement to initial compensable ratings for residuals of renal cell carcinoma and left kidney removal, as well as TDIU, are being remanded to obtain missing records and conduct additional evaluations.
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