The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to obtain an adequate VA medical opinion regarding the cause of the Veteran's death, specifically whether his metastatic rectal adenocarcinoma was related to service and exposure to herbicide agents.
The deciding factor: The April 2022 VA examiner's opinion only addressed presumptive service connection based on herbicide agent exposure. Another VA medical opinion is required to determine if direct service connection is warranted.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic rectal adenocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 2, 2022
- Citation
- 22043772
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 22043772.
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 denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking his rectal cancer to his military service or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not caused by or related to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The Board denied service connection for the cause of death and denied entitlement to accrued benefits.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to metastatic rectal adenocarcinoma, finding that there was no evidence linking it to active military service. The claim was not reopened as new and material evidence had not been submitted.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by a disability incurred or aggravated in service, including due to exposure to herbicides. The cause of death was pneumonia resulting from metastatic rectal cancer.
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