The Board remands the claims for service connection for malignant neoplasm of lymph nodes of the head, face, neck and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck to obtain an adequate medical opinion regarding their etiology.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in failing to provide an adequate examination.
- Claimed conditions
- malignant neoplasm of lymph nodes of the head, face, neck, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 31, 2025
- Citation
- A25029517
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,948 · Granted: 29% (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 A25029517.
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 Veteran's lymphoma and scar have been granted effective dates of August 23, 2018. The Veteran is service-connected for his lymphoma with an initial noncompensable rating, and the RO has not assigned a compensable rating for his scar.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death is being remanded due to the need for a VA medical opinion regarding whether his cause of death, ischemic heart disease and hypertension, are service-connected. Additionally, the burial benefits claim is inextricably intertwined with these issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for an opinion regarding the causal relationship between the Veteran's cancers and his herbicide agent exposure in service, as well as the cause of death.
- Granted
The Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is granted service connection due to exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam, as provided by the PACT Act. The other claims for increased evaluations or disability ratings are denied.,The cause of death (squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck) is also granted.
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