The veteran's death was attributed to squamous cell bladder cancer, but the Board found insufficient evidence to determine if this cancer began during service or was related to exposure to Agent Orange. The primary site of the fatal cancer and whether it was aggravated by a pre-existing condition need further clarification.
The deciding factor: There is insufficient medical evidence to determine the primary site of the veteran's fatal cancer (bladder or prostate) and whether this cancer was aggravated by his service-connected prostate cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell bladder cancer, acute renal failure, metastatic carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 3, 2005
- Citation
- 0502557
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,419 · Granted: 21% (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 0502557.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, including hypertension and diabetes mellitus type II, are presumed to be related to his service in the Republic of Vietnam. The Board has granted service connection for these conditions.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by or the result of any service-connected condition, and there is no evidence to support a presumption of service connection due to herbicide exposure. The Board denied both the claim for service connection for the cause of death and the claim for burial benefits.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and the Board denied service connection for cause of death.
- Denied
The Board denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of death, finding that the Veteran's service-connected conditions did not contribute to his death.
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