The veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and the appellant did not provide evidence linking his death to military service.
The deciding factor: The veteran's colon cancer began years after service and was not linked to any incident of service, including Agent Orange exposure during service in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- Colon cancer, Pulmonary embolus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 11, 2003
- Citation
- 0323569
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 0323569.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a lung disability and a bilateral foot disability based on new evidence, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, and colon cancer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for colon cancer and individual unemployability (TDIU) due to a duty to assist error, requiring further development of evidence related to toxic exposure activities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death to ensure all reasonably raised theories of entitlement are developed, specifically regarding a direct service connection theory based on complaints in the Veteran's service treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for brain tumor, prostate cancer, colon cancer, and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome due to inadequate medical opinions regarding toxic exposure.
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