The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the veteran's death due to lack of new and material evidence. The appellant presented additional evidence but it was deemed not significant enough to reopen the case.
The deciding factor: The submitted evidence did not bear significantly on the question at hand, nor was it so significant that it must be considered in order to decide fairly the merits of the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- rectal cancer
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 9, 2005
- Citation
- 0503451
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,987 · Granted: 15% (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 0503451.
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 Veteran's rectal cancer is related to his active duty service and exposure to Agent Orange. The Board granted service connection for the condition.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for rectal cancer and the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to service or a service-connected disability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for colorectal cancer, finding that the evidence did not establish a chronic condition in service or a relationship to service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's rectal cancer is related to his presumed in-service exposure to herbicides, specifically Agent Orange. The decision grants service connection for this condition.
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