The Board has determined that additional development is needed to determine the Veteran's exposure to ionizing radiation during service and whether he meets the criteria for direct service connection due to his claimed condition.
The deciding factor: The decision was remanded because further development under specific procedures set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 3.311 is required to establish service connection for the Veteran's cancer of the mouth, including cancers of the salivary gland and hard palate, due to exposure to ionizing radiation during service.
- Claimed conditions
- cancer of the mouth, cancers of the salivary gland, hard palate
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20080924
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,455 · Granted: 23% (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 20080924.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for cancer of the mouth, throat, or respiratory tract is remanded due to new evidence submitted after a previous denial. The Board finds that the evidence does not meet the standard for 'new and relevant' evidence as it pertains to esophageal cancer but considers squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx related to Agent Orange exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for his cause of death, finding that there was no evidence linking his emphysema and cancer of the mouth to his military service or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's causes of death are directly related to service, including herbicide exposure.
- Granted
The Board finds that the Veteran's mouth cancer was related to his exposure to radiation during service, and grants service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
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