The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death as there was no evidence that metastatic colon carcinoma, the immediate cause of death, was related to his military service.
The deciding factor: There was a decades-long evidentiary gap between active service and the earliest complaints of metastatic colon carcinoma, which constitutes negative evidence tending to disprove the claim that the condition was causally or etiologically related to the veteran's military service.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic colon carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 5, 2008
- Citation
- 0814777
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,013 · Granted: 17% (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 0814777.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for a new VA medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's colorectal cancer, including whether it was caused by in-service exposure to herbicide agents and/or a reported exposure to strange dust following a hemorrhoid procedure.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board is remanding the case to determine if the Veteran's cause of death (colon cancer) was related to service or a service-connected disability, including presumed exposure to herbicide agents and reported exposure to strange dust following hemorrhoid procedure.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's lung cancer was a primary site, if service-connected hemorrhoids were a contributory cause of death, and if any cancer had its onset or was otherwise related to service, including presumed exposure to herbicides.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence showing a service-connected disability caused or contributed to the Veteran's death. The appellant submitted new and material evidence but it did not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.
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