The Board remands the claims for service connection for liver cancer and cholecystectomy to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors related to toxic exposure risk activities.
The deciding factor: The TERA memo and VA examinations are considered inadequate, necessitating an updated TERA memo and a new medical opinion considering all potential exposures.
- Claimed conditions
- Cholecystectomy, Liver cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2025
- Citation
- A25109542
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,217 · Granted: 46% (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 A25109542.
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 Veteran's disability ratings for PTSD with major depressive disorder, and panic disorder to include insomnia, and GERD were reduced. The motion to revise these decisions based on CUE is granted.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for liver cancer, finding that there is no evidence to support a causal relationship between his in-service exposures and his diagnosed liver cancer. The medical opinion provided by VA concluded that the liver cancer was not caused by or aggravated by any of the conditions listed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's liver, lung, brain, and bone cancers in relation to his service, including exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a new VA addendum opinion to determine if the Veteran's liver cancer and hepatitis C are related to his active service, including exposure to agent orange.
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