The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for stomach cancer to schedule an examination and obtain a medical opinion, as a VA examination or medical opinion was not obtained in the development of the claim.
The deciding factor: Remand is required due to a duty-to-assist error where no medical opinion was obtained to determine the nature and etiology of the claimed stomach cancer, given the Veteran's service-connected duodenal ulcer.
- Claimed conditions
- stomach cancer
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2025
- Citation
- A25034771
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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