The Board found that the cause of the veteran's death, metastatic cancer of the pancreas, was not caused by or aggravated by a service-connected disability. The appellant did not have a service-connected disability rated as totally disabling for at least 10 years prior to her husband's death.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that pancreatic cancer is not a disease for which VA has established a medical relationship with herbicide exposure, and the veteran's diabetes mellitus type II was not service connected at the time of his death. The weight of evidence did not establish that the veteran's diabetes caused or aggravated his pancreatic cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic cancer of the pancreas
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 31, 2006
- Citation
- 0622785
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,196 · Granted: 17% (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 0622785.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic cancer of the pancreas, was not found to be related to his military service or a service-connected condition. The Board determined that there is no evidence linking the pancreatic cancer to service or any service-connected disability.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's metastatic cancer of the pancreas did not manifest in service or for many years thereafter, and is unrelated to Agent Orange exposure. Therefore, the claim for service connection is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran did not have diabetes mellitus type II during service or within one year of separation. The issue of entitlement to service connection for metastatic cancer of the pancreas is remanded as there are questions regarding its etiology and whether it may be related to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.
- Denied
The Board found that a service-connected disability did not cause or contribute substantially to the veteran's death, and that he was unemployable due to his service-connected disabilities.
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