The veteran's cause of death was metastatic prostate cancer, with other significant conditions including atrial fibrillation, deep venous thrombosis (legs), non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, and cerebral vascular accidents. The Board found that the service-connected disability did not cause or hasten his death, and there is no evidence linking the veteran's fatal disease processes to his military service.
The deciding factor: The veteran died from metastatic prostate cancer with other significant conditions contributing to death but not resulting in the underlying cause. Service connection for cause of death on a direct basis was denied as there was no medical opinion or other medical evidence suggesting any relationship between the veteran's fatal disease processes and his periods of military service.
- Claimed conditions
- prostate cancer, atrial fibrillation, deep venous thrombosis (legs), non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, cerebral vascular accidents (embolic)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 2, 2006
- Citation
- 0603007
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,458 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0603007.
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: Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for prostate cancer, bone cancer, and lymph node cancer has been granted. The prostate cancer is presumed due to herbicide agent exposure during service at RTAFB Takhli. Bone cancer is secondary to the service-connected prostate cancer. Lymph node cancer is also considered secondary to prostate cancer.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for prostate cancer but remanded the claim for PTSD due to insufficient verification of stressor incidents.
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