The Veteran's claim for service connection for a respiratory disability, including chronic cough and acute bronchitis, is remanded due to the need for an adequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of his current respiratory disabilities.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinions were inadequate as they did not consider all applicable military deployments and the synergistic combined effects of all toxic exposure risk activities, including herbicide agents, asbestos, jet fuels and fumes, lead, mercury, and cadmium.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic cough, acute bronchitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 5, 2026
- Citation
- A26010761
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 A26010761.
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 claims for increased evaluations for PTSD and a chronic cough are being remanded due to an error in providing notice of the right to a hearing before the RO.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew her appeal regarding service connection for bilateral hearing loss and chronic cough, thus the appeal is dismissed.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a chronic cough disability was granted with an effective date of January 1, 2002. This decision is based on the addition of relevant service department records that were not considered in prior decisions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for chronic cough, fatigue, chest pain, and dizzy spells are being remanded due to a duty to assist error. The Board finds that the Veteran should have been afforded an examination to determine if these conditions are related to his service-connected esophageal cancer.
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