The Board has granted the appellant's claim, finding that the veteran's cause of death was due to nicotine dependence which began in service and contributed to his development of renal cell cancer.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners and a private physician provided opinions supporting the conclusion that the veteran's cigarette smoking during active service likely led to the development of his renal cell carcinoma, which caused his death.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic renal cell cancer
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2004
- Citation
- 0409865
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,776 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0409865.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, metastatic renal cell cancer and related conditions, is service-connected due to exposure to herbicide agents during his military service in Vietnam.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for metastatic renal cell cancer due to presumed exposure to herbicide agents, including Agent Orange. The hypertension issue is remanded as there is no opinion on its etiology.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic renal cell cancer, is found to be due to exposure to herbicides during service. Service connection for the cause of death is granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's death was due to metastatic renal cell cancer and hemorrhagic stroke. The appellant argued that her husband's Parkinson's disease contributed to his fall, which led to the stroke and ultimately his death. The medical evidence supports this claim, as a private physician opined that Parkinson's disease was a contributing factor to the Veteran's death.
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