The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that his primary gastroesophageal cancer was not related to his military service or presumed Agent Orange exposure.
The deciding factor: Primary gastroesophageal cancer did not have a nexus to the veteran's military service, including any presumed Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic gastric cancer, gastroesophageal cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 14, 2005
- Citation
- 0533738
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0533738.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cause of death is due to diffuse bilateral pneumonia, which was found to be caused by exposure to herbicide agents in Iraq. The gastrointestinal cancer that led to his death is presumed to have been caused by the same exposure. Therefore, service connection for the cause of death is granted.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for gastroesophageal cancer pursuant to the PACT Act, as the Veteran was presumed to have toxic exposures due to his Southwest Asia theater of operations service and diagnosed with the condition during his lifetime.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, metastatic gastric cancer, was related to his active-duty service at Camp Lejeune. The benefit of doubt has been applied in favor of the claim.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded two issues: service connection for metastatic gastric cancer and the cause of death. The Veteran's claims are being returned to VA for additional development, including obtaining medical records and completing a Toxic Exposure Risk Activity (TERA) memorandum.
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