The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including head and neck cancer, difficulty swallowing, dry mucous membrane, loss of gumline, fatigue, and vocal cord edema, as new and relevant evidence has been received since the prior denial.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary to obtain outstanding treatment records that may contain information probative to the Veteran's claims. The VA examiner's opinion did not establish a link between the claimed conditions and service exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of head and neck cancer (squamous cell carcinoma of the left tonsill and lymph nodes near the base of the neck), difficulty swallowing, dry mucous membrane, loss of gumline, fatigue, vocal cord edema
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 11, 2025
- Citation
- A25022374
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.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew the appeal for all service connection and rating issues, and the Board has no jurisdiction to review these matters.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a disability manifested by fatigue, finding no evidence of the condition and attributing the Veteran's symptoms to other known diagnoses.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for fatigue and an initial rating above 10 percent for reactive airway disease, as the evidence did not support a finding of chronic fatigue or a disability that warranted a higher rating based on pulmonary function test results.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for a VA examination to address service connection and rating issues.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.