The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the causes of death and their relation to service-connected disabilities. The Appellant is asked to provide records from University of Washington Medical Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and a VA examiner will be requested to provide an addendum opinion.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the current opinions are insufficient due to lack of explanation for the relationship between the causes of death and service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- acute respiratory distress syndrome, idiopathic pneumonia syndrome, allogenic stem cell transplant, acute lymphoblastic leukemia
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 28, 2021
- Citation
- 21025731
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 21025731.
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 has denied the claim of service connection for cause of death as new and relevant evidence was not submitted in conjunction with the Appellant's supplemental claim.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), diabetes mellitus, type II (DM II), and recurrent pulmonary nocardiosis, to include bilateral lung disease and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The conditions are presumed related to herbicide exposure during active duty service.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was granted retroactive service connection for the purpose of entitlement to retroactive benefits, and an effective date of November 15, 1998 is granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, which was presumed to be service-connected due to herbicide exposure in the Gulf War, significantly contributed to his death from acute respiratory distress syndrome and other conditions. The Board found that while diabetes was not the primary cause of death, it substantially contributed to the cause of death.
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