The Veteran's lung disorder, including lung cancer and COPD, is remanded for further development due to procedural errors in the previous rating decisions. The case will be returned to the Board for readjudication after all necessary evidence has been obtained.
The deciding factor: Procedural errors led to improper closure of the appeal and necessitate a new examination and review of the Veteran's claims based on Agent Orange exposure and military service.
- Claimed conditions
- lung disorder, lung cancer, spots on lungs, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2025
- Citation
- 25000077
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 25000077.
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.
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- Denied
The Veteran's respiratory disability, including asthma and COPD, is denied as service connection is not warranted due to the condition being solely attributed to smoking.
- Dismissed
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- Denied
The Board denied service connection for asthma, COPD, pancreatitis, stroke, and left arm weakness (claimed as secondary to stroke) based on the presumption of exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to service or due to in-service exposure.
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