The veteran's cause of death was listed as metastatic rectal cancer. The Board found that the service-connected conditions did not contribute to his death and there were no pending claims at the time of his death, leading to denial of service connection for the cause of death. There is also no legal entitlement to accrued benefits due to lack of a pending claim at the time of the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the cause of the veteran's death was not related to any service-connected condition and there were no pending claims, leading to denial of both service connection for the cause of death and entitlement to accrued benefits.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic rectal cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 30, 2005
- Citation
- 0535123
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 0535123.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's exposure to fire suppression chemicals during service, which may be related to his cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA medical opinion regarding the Veteran's hypertension and coronary artery disease, which may have contributed to his cause of death.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that the Veteran's causes of death were acute myeloid leukemia and metastatic rectal cancer, and neither hypertension nor coronary artery disease caused or contributed to his death.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that metastatic rectal cancer was not related to in-service toxic exposures or otherwise related to service.
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