The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error and the need for additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's skin disabilities.
The deciding factor: There was a pre-decisional duty to assist error, specifically in the April 2022 VA medical opinion which did not adequately address the etiology of the Veteran's skin cancer disability or provide an opinion on whether the Veteran's skin disability is caused by or aggravated by his service-connected hypertension and/or medications used to treat it.
- Claimed conditions
- actinic keratosis, seborrheic keratosis, skin cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 17, 2022
- Citation
- A22025732
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 A22025732.
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 Veteran's service connection claims for skin cancer and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have been denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions, and the evidence does not support a causal relationship to active military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for special monthly compensation and service connection was denied due to a late filing of the Board Appeal request.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for actinic keratosis, finding that his condition had its onset during active duty and is related to exposure to harmful sun while deployed in Afghanistan.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection of squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and actinic keratosis as the appeal is considered duplicative of a previous decision.
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