The veteran's cause of death was not due to a service-connected condition, and there is no evidence linking his terminal cancer to military service or herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The medical records do not support the claim that the veteran's terminal colon cancer was caused by his inservice exposure to herbicides in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- Colon Cancer, Bladder Cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- July 28, 2003
- Citation
- 0317901
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 0317901.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's hypertension was granted a 10 percent rating for the period prior to August 10, 2022. The Veteran's bladder cancer received a 100 percent rating from March 7, 2018 until September 8, 2018.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board granted service connection for bladder cancer effective from December 16, 2005, finding that the Veteran had a claim pending since then.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's psychiatric disability, hypertension, and bladder cancer are granted service connection. The Board has remanded the cases for further development regarding herbicide exposure claims.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities were not of such severity to prevent him from securing or following any substantially gainful occupation, and his TDIU claim was denied.
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