The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for esophageal cancer to obtain a new VA medical opinion that adequately addresses whether the condition is related to active service, including exposure to Camp Lejeune contaminated water.
The deciding factor: Remand is required due to an inadequate pre-decisional duty to assist error in not ensuring an adequate VA medical opinion was provided.
- Claimed conditions
- esophageal cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 23, 2024
- Citation
- A24068419
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death to correct predecisional duty to assist errors, including obtaining additional records and a medical nexus opinion.
- Granted
The Veteran's esophageal cancer is granted service connection due to herbicide exposure during his service in the Republic of Vietnam.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for gastrointestinal cancer other than esophageal cancer and stomach cancer, brain cancer, and prostate cancer. The issues of entitlement to service connection for esophageal cancer, metastatic esophageal cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, and liver cancer were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a new medical opinion to address the etiology of the Veteran's esophageal cancer, considering his in-service herbicide agent exposure and service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder.
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