The Board remands the claim for an addendum opinion regarding the likely etiology of the Veteran's skin cancer, specifically addressing direct service connection and secondary aggravation by his service-connected diabetes mellitus.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinion provided was inadequate due to incorrect interpretation of evidence standards and failure to address all aspects of the remand instructions.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma (skin cancer)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 6, 2025
- Citation
- 25001815
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,548 · Granted: 31% (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 25001815.
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 has remanded the claims for service connection for diabetes and skin cancer due to a failure to obtain adequate opinions regarding the relationship between these conditions and the veteran's exposure to toxic substances during service, including asbestos, PFAs, drinking water chemicals, and a burn pit. The VA examiner is required to provide an opinion on whether the current diagnoses are at least as likely as not caused by these exposures.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and service connection for squamous cell carcinoma (skin cancer) were both denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support granting either claim.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma (skin cancer) as there was no evidence of in-service occurrence or a nexus to service, and the medical opinions were against the claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient rationale in the VA examiner's opinion regarding the Veteran's skin cancer and its relation to service, including herbicide exposure. The Veteran is also asked to provide an opinion on whether his skin cancer could be related to sun exposure while serving in Vietnam.
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