The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis due to an inadequate VA medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The July 2023 VA medical opinion did not adequately consider the Veteran's individual circumstances, including his exposure to Agent Orange during military service in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 4, 2024
- Citation
- A24071597
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 pulmonary hypertension as secondary to the Veteran's already service-connected idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as well as claims for Dependency and Indemity Compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, accrued benefits, and additional nonservice-connected burial benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for cause of death to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's prior medical history.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was dismissed as the Board had already granted it in a previous decision, and the AOJ assigned an effective date of August 30, 2022.
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