The Board found that the Veteran's cholangiocarcinoma, which was the cause of his death, was not related to his military service or exposure to ionizing radiation.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not establish a link between the Veteran's cholangiocarcinoma and his military service, including any potential exposure to ionizing radiation. The VA medical opinion concluded that it was unlikely that the cancer resulted from such exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Cholangiocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 2, 2009
- Citation
- 0907584
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that the evidence did not support a causal link between the Veteran's cholangiocarcinoma and his military service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his cholangiocarcinoma was at least as likely as not related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus and/or in-service herbicide agent exposure.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his cholangiocarcinoma was related to in-service exposure to herbicide agents and/or parasitic infection.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death as cholangiocarcinoma was not shown to be related to service, including exposure to herbicides.
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