The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for cause of death and DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 due to missing VA treatment records, including from Seattle VA hospital, Anchorage VA hospital, and private treatment records. The Veteran may have been exposed to Agent Orange during his service aboard the USS Samuel Gompers.
The deciding factor: The claims are remanded due to missing medical records that could provide information about the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents and the development of esophageal cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- Barrett's esophagus, esophageal cancer
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 31, 2022
- Citation
- 22019081
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 22019081.
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 service connection for the cause of death due to esophageal cancer, which is presumed to be related to exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's prostate disability. The claims for esophageal cancer and Barrett's esophagus remain denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the AOJ committed pre-decisional duty to notify and duty to assist errors in denying the DIC claim for the cause of the Veteran's death. The claim must be remanded to allow the AOJ to make a finding regarding whether the Appellant is considered the surviving spouse, as this is a threshold requirement for DIC benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's increased rating claim for GERD with Barrett's esophagus should be remanded due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error and regulatory or statutory duties.
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