The Board found that the cause of death was pseudomyxoma peritonei, which is not a condition covered by the Agent Orange presumption. The medical evidence did not establish a link between the veteran's exposure to Agent Orange and his cause of death.
The deciding factor: Pseudomyxoma peritonei developed as a complication from metastatic colon or appendix cancer, which was not shown to be related to service in Vietnam or exposure to Agent Orange.
- Claimed conditions
- pseudomyxoma peritonei, respiratory failure from pulmonary metastasis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 13, 2004
- Citation
- 0412489
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 332 · Granted: 14% (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 0412489.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining a medical opinion from an oncologist to determine if the cause of the veteran's death was related to his military service, specifically exposure to herbicide agents. The DIC benefits claim is also inextricably intertwined with the cause of death issue and will be considered at this time.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further review, including a medical opinion from an oncologist regarding the cause of death and DIC benefits consideration.
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