The Board remanded the Veteran's appeal of the effective date for service connection awards for prostate cancer and residuals, as well as initial disability ratings, to allow further development regarding potential presumptive exposure to herbicide agents via service aboard U.S.S. Southerland in Vietnamese territorial waters and to obtain a medical opinion regarding direct causation if presumptive exposure cannot be established. The case was complicated by service connection being granted under the PACT Act effective August 10, 2022, while the Veteran's claim was filed in December 2020.
The deciding factor: The Board found remand warranted to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors by verifying the Veteran's potential in-service exposure to herbicide agents (specifically whether U.S.S. Southerland sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Republic of Vietnam in September-October 1972 when deck logs were unavailable) and to obtain a medical examination and opinion regarding direct causation of prostate cancer and residuals from alleged exposure to AFFF and PKP, as required by 38 U.S.C. § 1168(a) when a veteran has evidence of disability and participation in a toxic exposure risk activity.
- Claimed conditions
- prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer scar
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- April 1, 2025
- Citation
- A25029864
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (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 A25029864.
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's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for prostate cancer, bone cancer, and lymph node cancer has been granted. The prostate cancer is presumed due to herbicide agent exposure during service at RTAFB Takhli. Bone cancer is secondary to the service-connected prostate cancer. Lymph node cancer is also considered secondary to prostate cancer.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
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