The veteran's claim for service connection for cancer of the common bile duct, stomach, pancreas, gallbladder, and duodenum is denied as there is no evidence linking these conditions to his military service or exposure to Agent Orange.
The deciding factor: Service records are negative for any indication of the presence of these cancers. The veteran's current condition was first diagnosed over 30 years after his discharge from active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- papillary adenocarcinoma-in-situ of the common bile duct, cancer of the stomach, cancer of the pancreas, cancer of the gallbladder, cancer of the duodenum
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 20, 2004
- Citation
- 0413059
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 0413059.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's cancer of the pancreas was granted service connection.,The Veteran's tinnitus is currently rated at 10 percent and no higher rating is warranted.,The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss does not meet criteria for a compensable rating.,Service connection for residuals of left foot surgery (left foot disability) is remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded four claims: service connection for type 2 diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, cancer of the pancreas and polyneuropathy of the right and left lower extremity. The RO must issue a Statement of the Case (SOC) addressing these claims.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, cancer of the pancreas, was not related to his service and therefore denied service connection for the cause of death. The appellant is also denied burial benefits as there were no qualifying circumstances.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for gallbladder, small intestine, and spleen cancers are denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for pancreas cancer is remanded due to the need for further development regarding exposure to Agent Orange.
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