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.
The deciding factor: The July 2024 VA medical opinion is inadequate as it did not address all toxic exposure risk activities and applied a higher evidentiary standard than applicable for Board appeals.
- Claimed conditions
- stomach cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 12, 2025
- Citation
- A25098009
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,500 · Granted: 29% (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 A25098009.
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 Board has remanded the case due to errors in developing evidence related to possible ionizing radiation exposure and TERA participation. The claim will be reconsidered with proper development of this information.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was determined to be stomach cancer, but the Board found no evidence linking it to his service or any service-connected conditions. The claim for service connection is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the appellant's claims for accrued benefits due to insufficient evidence regarding the relationship between the Veteran's cancers and his service-connected disabilities, specifically gastritis with hyperacidity and coronary artery disease. The VA is required to obtain medical opinions on the nature and etiology of the Veteran's right kidney cancer, stomach cancer, and bone cancer.
- Dismissed
Your appeal has been dismissed due to the Veteran's death. The Board cannot issue a decision on your claims as they are no longer pending.
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