The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that the anaplastic astrocytoma was not incurred in or aggravated by active service and is unrelated to exposure to Agent Orange.
The deciding factor: There is no direct evidence linking the Veteran's cancer to his military service or any incident thereof, including exposure to herbicides. The absence of a diagnosis related to the cause of death (cancer) for many years after military discharge weighs against a finding of continuity of symptomatology.
- Claimed conditions
- anaplastic astrocytoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 19, 2009
- Citation
- 0923159
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 0923159.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for anaplastic astrocytoma and brain cancer due to burn pits and fires exposure in Saudi Arabia was dismissed as the Notice of Disagreement was submitted more than one year after the initial denial.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his anaplastic astrocytoma was caused by presumed exposure to herbicide agents in service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to lack of evidence linking the Veteran's brain tumor, which developed after discharge from active duty, to his military service or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the cause of the Veteran's death is remanded for further development, including obtaining additional VA medical opinions to determine if his death was related to service.
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