The Board denied service connection for carcinoma of the colon and denied reopening a claim for migraine headaches, anal bleeding, non-specific urethritis, and mixed contraction and vascular headaches. The veteran's current cancer was first diagnosed more than 20 years after discharge from service, and there is no medical evidence linking it to service. The new evidence submitted did not provide any etiological link between the veteran's claimed conditions and service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the newly received evidence did not bear directly on whether the veteran's current conditions are related to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- carcinoma of the colon, migraine headaches, anal bleeding, non-specific urethritis, mixed contraction and vascular headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2002
- Citation
- 0218328
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 0218328.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for the Veteran's migraine headaches based on prostrating attacks occurring more than once a month and severe economic inadaptability.
- Granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches were granted a 50 percent disability rating, effective August 8, 2023, due to very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks that are productive of severe economic inadaptability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches with an initial rating of 50 percent effective from August 10, 2022, and denied the claims for service connection for a right knee disability, obstructive sleep apnea, kidney disability, low back disability, and erectile dysfunction.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches as proximately due to the Veteran's service-connected tinnitus.
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