The Board denied the claim as there is no evidence linking the cause of death to service or service-connected conditions, including presumed exposure to Agent Orange.
The deciding factor: There was no medical evidence showing a link between the veteran's esophageal cancer and his service or any service-connected condition, including presumed exposure to Agent Orange.
- Claimed conditions
- esophageal adenocarcinoma, pulmonary tuberculosis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2005
- Citation
- 0500437
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 0500437.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding that his service-connected pulmonary tuberculosis was at least as likely as not a contributory cause of his death.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date than January 28, 2014 for service connection for pulmonary tuberculosis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain an adequate medical opinion regarding the link between the Veteran's esophageal adenocarcinoma and his exposure to Agent Orange during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, sleep disorder, GERD, and esophageal adenocarcinoma due to duty-to-assist errors. The Veteran will receive a new examination.
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