The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to bladder cancer and brain metastasis, finding that there was no evidence linking the veteran's condition to his military service or exposure to herbicides in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not support a presumption of service connection based on herbicide exposure, and the Board found insufficient evidence to establish direct service connection for the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute respiratory distress, Brain metastasis, Bladder carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 26, 2002
- Citation
- 0218716
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 0218716.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's bladder carcinoma, status post transurethral resection of bladder tumor, is granted effective from August 10, 2022, due to the PACT Act.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate rationale in a previous VA examiner's opinion and the need for an updated medical examination. The Veteran is seeking service connection for bladder cancer, which he contends was caused by herbicide exposure, ionizing radiation, and toxins during his military service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bladder cancer, which caused his death in August 2011, is related to his service exposure to chemicals. As a result, the cause of the Veteran's death is considered service-connected.
- Denied
The Board finds that the Veteran's death was not caused by VA hospital care, medical or surgical treatment, and there is no evidence of any fault on the part of VA. The cause of death was a pulmonary embolism due to the femoral fracture.
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