The Board remands the Veteran's claims for service connection for prostate cancer and an acquired psychiatric disability, to include depression, due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding potential herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The AOJ did not undertake any development to verify the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents prior to entering a decision on his claim, which constitutes a pre-decisional duty to assist error that must be corrected.
- Claimed conditions
- prostate cancer, acquired psychiatric disability, to include depression
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 30, 2025
- Citation
- A25056399
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for prostate cancer, related to in-service exposures at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran is granted an effective date of April 25, 2014, for service connection for prostate cancer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of service connection for prostate cancer to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's toxic exposure risk activities.
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