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Denied

The Board found that the veteran's cause of death, cancer of the esophagogastric junction, was not service-connected and did not result from exposure to herbicides or other environmental factors. The Board also determined that no service-connected disability contributed substantially or materially to his death.

The deciding factor: Cancer of the esophagogastric junction is not a condition entitled to presumptive service connection, nor was it shown to be related to any period of active duty service or exposure to herbicides. There is no evidence indicating that any service-connected disability contributed substantially or materially to cause the veteran's death.

Claimed conditions
cancer of the esophagogastric junction
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
June 16, 2004
Citation
0415449

Veterans Law Judge

Gary L. Gick

Decisions by this judge: 1,175 · Granted: 22% (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 0415449.

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