The Board has decided to remand the case due to a lack of medical opinion regarding the cause of death, and will provide one if requested.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms in service and possible asbestos exposure are considered when determining whether they contributed to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- dissecting abdominal aortic aneurysm, aortic atherosclerosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 28, 2024
- Citation
- A24069343
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 715 · Granted: 43% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A24069343.
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 Veteran's current heart disorders are being remanded as the VA medical opinion is inadequate. The examiner must review service treatment records and provide an opinion on whether it is at least as likely as not that his currently diagnosed heart conditions had their onset during or are causally related to service, including documented symptoms in March 1985.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for multiple myeloma, coronary artery disease, hypertension, aortic atherosclerosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, and hypercalcemia are all granted. Hypertension is granted as presumptively related to herbicide exposure under the PACT Act of 2022. The other conditions are presumed related to service based on herbicide exposure in Thailand.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for giant cell aortitis/arteritis and heart disorder (claimed as ischemic heart disease) has been reopened, but new evidence does not support reopening the claims.,The Veteran's hypertension is granted due to presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam. The claim for secondary service connection for H. pylori is also granted.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for aortic atherosclerosis and kidney cysts, finding that the evidence did not support a direct relationship to service or any service-connected conditions.
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