The Board remands the claim for service connection of the Veteran's cause of death, esophageal cancer, to obtain a TERA opinion due to recent legislative changes requiring VA to determine the etiology of the Veteran's condition.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary to obtain a medical nexus examination as required by the PACT Act to address whether the Veteran's esophageal cancer was related to his exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Claimed conditions
- Malignant neoplasm of the esophagus
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 28, 2024
- Citation
- A24069165
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 issue of entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, specifically regarding his esophageal cancer, due to a need to verify the Veteran's participation in radiation-risk activities following the Palomares B-52 crash.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's left eye condition is related to service, as it found that the condition did not preexist service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for prostate cancer, related to in-service exposures at Camp Lejeune.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted an effective date of August 10, 2022, for the grant of service connection for sinusitis based on the PACT Act.
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