The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete medical records and an inadequate VA medical opinion regarding the cause of death. The appellant contends that the Veteran's death is related to in-service herbicide exposure and/or tuberculosis exposure, but there is insufficient evidence to establish herbicide exposure on a facts-found basis.
The deciding factor: The Board found the VA medical opinion based on incomplete records to be inadequate and remanded for further development including obtaining relevant medical records from the Veteran's final three months of service.
- Claimed conditions
- tuberculosis, acute myeloid leukemia
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 10, 2021
- Citation
- 21068569
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 21068569.
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 determined that the evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's service-connected hypertension contributed to his cause of death, and therefore grants service connection for the cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA medical opinion regarding the Veteran's hypertension and coronary artery disease, which may have contributed to his cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for tuberculosis, bilateral hearing loss, and an acquired psychiatric condition due to conflicting evidence and need for further evaluation.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, sepsis and acute myeloid leukemia with toxic encephalopathy, was not caused by or related to his military service. The Board found that the available evidence did not show a nexus between the Veteran's exposure to toxins or herbicides and his death.
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