The Board remands the claim for service connection of the Veteran's cause of death to obtain a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the conditions listed as causes of death and their relation to the Veteran's military service.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the need to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors by obtaining necessary medical opinions.
- Claimed conditions
- Intraabdominal sepsis, Type II diabetes mellitus, Atrial fibrillation, Arteriosclerotic heart disease, Essential hypertension, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 8, 2024
- Citation
- A24064373
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 granted service connection for Type II diabetes mellitus, finding that it is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected unspecified depressive disorder.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for congestive heart failure with implanted pacemaker, bradycardia, valvular heart disease, and atrial fibrillation, secondary to the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that Type II diabetes mellitus and hypertension, which are presumed to have resulted from herbicide exposure during service, contributed substantially to his demise.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an adequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's in-service toxic exposure risk activities, including jet fuel and other fuels, to determine if they contributed to his cause of death.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.