The Board has determined that the Veteran's case must be remanded due to procedural issues and inadequate VA opinions regarding his liver disorder. The Veteran is seeking service connection for a liver disorder, which may be secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus and/or prostate cancer residuals.
The deciding factor: The VA opinions are insufficient as they do not address the aggravation prong of secondary service connection and fail to provide a rationale based on medical literature or other evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- cirrhosis of the liver, fatty liver disease, liver parenchyma with mild stenosis, chronic portal inflammation, bridging fibrosis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 4, 2020
- Citation
- 20077105
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 20077105.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for cirrhosis of the liver has been dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for hepatitis C and its secondary effects on other conditions, including cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes mellitus type II, esophageal varices, hepatic encephalopathy, and splenomegaly.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to incomplete etiology opinions regarding secondary service connection.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death, finding that none of the conditions listed on his death certificate were related to his military service or exposure to herbicide agents.
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