The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, as there was no evidence that a disability incurred in or aggravated by military service caused or contributed to his death.
The deciding factor: The November 2004 VA medical opinion stated that the veteran's fluctuating blood glucose was likely caused by his cancer, not his diabetes mellitus, and that his service-connected diabetes did not likely cause or play a significant role in the veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 9, 2008
- Citation
- 0815351
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,293 · 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 0815351.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary, is found to be related to his presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam. The Board grants service connection for the cause of death.
- Denied
The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death, finding that his metastatic carcinoma was not related to his military service and that his anemia associated with hemorrhoids did not contribute substantially or materially to his death.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death was due to metastatic carcinoma, which developed more than one year after his discharge from service and is not etiologically related to service or herbicide exposure.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus contributed to his death, and thus grants service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
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