The veteran's cause of death was attributed to terminal gastric cancer, which the VA determined was not caused by his service-connected hypertension. The Board found no evidence linking the veteran's death to any service-connected condition or exposure to herbicides.
The deciding factor: Gastric cancer was first diagnosed after the veteran's separation from service and is not considered presumptively related to Agent Orange exposure, nor does it meet the criteria for a presumption of service connection due to hypertension.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastric Cancer, Essential Hypertension with Chest Pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 13, 2001
- Citation
- 0120622
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0120622.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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 claims for a bilateral eye disorder, gastric cancer (due to herbicide exposure), low back disorder, gastrointestinal disorder (Crohn’s disease), and hypertension due to incomplete development of evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate reasons and bases for denying service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death based on a November 2003 Agent Orange Examination. The claim is now being reviewed with an independent medical expert.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's diabetes mellitus caused or contributed to his death from gastric cancer.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was attributed to respiratory failure, pleural effusion, malignant lung metastasis and gastric cancer. The Board found that the evidence did not support service connection for gastric cancer as a result of military service or exposure.
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