The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for polycythemia and its residuals due to brain stem stroke, finding that there is no evidence of a direct relationship between these conditions and his military service or Agent Orange exposure.
The deciding factor: VA regulations do not recognize polycythemia vera as related to Agent Orange exposure, nor does it consider chronic myelogenous leukemia (which is closely related to polycythemia vera) as one of the presumptive diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure. The Board found that there was insufficient evidence to support a direct relationship between the veteran's conditions and his military service or Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- polycythemia, residuals of brain stem stroke
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2004
- Citation
- 0400725
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 0400725.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a right knee disability, left knee disability, polycythemia, and bilateral hearing loss as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to the Veteran's active duty service.
- Granted
The Board granted a 60 percent rating for polycythemia based on the Veteran undergoing phlebotomy 6 times within a 12-month period.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and polycythemia, both related to the Veteran's military service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for monoclonal gammopathy and denied it for polycythemia.
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