The Board remands the claim for service connection of the Veteran's cause of death, to include cardiorespiratory failure and stomach cancer, due to a duty to assist error in not ensuring an adequate medical opinion was obtained.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions provided were found inadequate as they did not provide sufficient rationale or address the synergistic effects of all toxic exposure risks (TERAs).
- Claimed conditions
- cardiorespiratory failure, stomach cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25032572
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 Board dismissed the appeal for service connection for diabetes, glaucoma, left foot and toe tingling and numbness sensation, left hand and fingers tingling and numbness sensation, right foot and toe tingling and numbness sensation, right hand and fingers tingling and numbness sensation, and stomach cancer as moot.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for gastrointestinal cancer other than esophageal cancer and stomach cancer, brain cancer, and prostate cancer. The issues of entitlement to service connection for esophageal cancer, metastatic esophageal cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, and liver cancer were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for stomach cancer due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including the need to obtain VistA images and an adequate medical opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to obtain additional evidence and a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's cause of death from stomach cancer is related to his military service, including potential exposures during service in Vietnam and at Camp Lejeune.
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