The Board remands the claim for service connection for a skin condition, to include but not limited to squamous cell carcinoma, due to inadequate medical opinion and failure to consider all potential exposures.
The deciding factor: The April 2024 VA medical opinion was found inadequate as it did not address all potential toxic exposures or other diagnoses of the Veteran's skin conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, actinic keratoses, benign appearing nevi, lentigines, seborrheic keratosis, hemangiomas, neoplasm of uncertain behavior
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2025
- Citation
- A25035832
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.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for skin cancer was dismissed due to untimeliness, while the claim for squamous cell carcinoma was granted.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the claim for service connection for headaches and remanded claims for service connection for various other conditions, including open angle glaucoma, sensorineural hearing loss, asthma, heart disease, bladder cancer, and squamous cell carcinoma.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for supraventricular arrhythmias, basal cell carcinoma, kidney stones, and COPD as the AOJ failed to substantially comply with prior remand directives.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for basal cell carcinoma and a higher initial disability rating of 70 percent for other specified trauma-and-stressor-related disorder, while denying increased ratings for lumbosacral strain, right lower radiculopathy, bilateral hearing loss, chronic rhinitis, tension headaches, and mitral valve prolapse.
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