The Board has decided to remand the claims of service connection for a heart disability and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) due to errors in obtaining necessary evidence. The Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents or contaminated water during active service needs to be verified, and relevant Social Security Administration records need to be obtained.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the AOJ failed to make reasonable efforts to verify the Veteran's claimed exposures to herbicide agents and contaminated water during active service.
- Claimed conditions
- Heart disability, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 3, 2026
- Citation
- A26019088
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 A26019088.
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 a heart disability, finding that the Veteran's current heart diagnoses are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to March 2, 2015, for TDIU was denied as the evidence did not show actual worsening within one year prior to his March 2, 2015, claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for a right shoulder disability and remanded the case for further action on heart disability. The decision regarding right shoulder disability is that it was not incurred in or aggravated by service.
- Granted
The Veteran's CLL is presumed to be related to his service in Thailand due to exposure to herbicide agents, and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.
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