The Board remands the claim for service connection of the cause of the Veteran's death due to a malignant neoplasm of the brain, as additional development is required to obtain a medical opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's in-service herbicide exposure and his condition.
The deciding factor: Additional development is required as there was a pre-decisional duty to assist error in not obtaining a medical opinion in light of the conceded herbicide exposure and the claim that such led to the Veteran's cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- malignant neoplasm of the brain
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 24, 2025
- Citation
- A25037966
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,963 · Granted: 32% (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 A25037966.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for malignant neoplasm of the brain is being remanded due to a failure to provide opinions on whether it was related to an in-service event or injury, including a grenade ambush resulting in traumatic brain injury (TBI), and whether it was caused or aggravated by TBI.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to glioblastoma, finding that it was not related to service and no other service-connected disability contributed substantially or materially to death.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, a malignant neoplasm of the brain, was incurred in service due to Agent Orange exposure. With resolution of reasonable doubt, service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is granted.
- Denied
The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and for brain cancer, finding that there was no evidence to support these claims.
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