The Board has determined that the veteran's death was caused by his service-connected cancer, which they believe may have been aggravated by his inservice exposure to Agent Orange.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran's fatal adenocarcinoma is presumed to be related to his inservice herbicide exposure, and this exposure contributed substantially to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Abdominal carcinomatosis, Metastatic adenocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 11, 2004
- Citation
- 0406521
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,987 · Granted: 15% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0406521.
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 and DEA benefits, finding no evidence supporting a causal link between the Veteran's metastatic adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, liver cancer due to exposure at Camp Lejeune, is granted as service-connected.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was cardiorespiratory arrest due to abdominal carcinomatosis. The claim for DIC benefits is denied as new and material evidence has not been submitted.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, including those potentially related to his in-service exposure to herbicide agents. The claim for service connection for the cause of death is denied.
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