The Board has determined that the veteran's death was caused by his service-connected cancer, and thus grants all three issues.
The deciding factor: The cause of the veteran's death (a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head) is found to be related to a disability incurred in or aggravated by service (cholangiocarcinoma), which is considered service-connected due to exposure to Agent Orange.
- Claimed conditions
- Cholangiocarcinoma, Cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 20, 2004
- Citation
- 0401939
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 0401939.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that the evidence did not support a causal link between the Veteran's cholangiocarcinoma and his military service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his cholangiocarcinoma was at least as likely as not related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus and/or in-service herbicide agent exposure.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for various conditions and granted an initial 20 percent rating for right lower extremity deep vein thrombosis, while remanding several other issues.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his cholangiocarcinoma was related to in-service exposure to herbicide agents and/or parasitic infection.
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