The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death to consider additional evidence regarding exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
The deciding factor: The Board must address a portion of an Institute of Medicine report that was not considered in the previous decision, as it relates to potential chronic kidney disease from exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Claimed conditions
- Respiratory failure, End stage renal disease
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 22, 2025
- Citation
- A25046118
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his end stage renal disease was caused by the use of NSAIDs to treat his service-connected musculoskeletal disabilities.
- Granted
The Board granted the claim for Death and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) based on service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, due to his in-service exposures to herbicides and extreme cold temperatures.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical opinion regarding the Veteran's cause of death, specifically addressing whether his respiratory failure, septic shock, hemorrhagic shock, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, and chronic osteomyelitis of the right leg were related to in-service toxic exposure or an in-service right leg injury.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding no evidence linking his respiratory failure, pneumonia, malignant neoplasm of the esophagus, gastrointestinal bleeding, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to his military service, including exposure to herbicides and Camp Lejeune contaminated water.
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