The Board found that the Veteran's cause of death, metastatic small cell undifferentiated cancer, was not caused by his service-connected conditions or presumed exposure to Agent Orange. The evidence did not support a finding that any service-connected condition contributed substantially or materially to his death.
The deciding factor: The VA physician concluded that the Veteran’s death was not caused by prostate cancer and that it would be speculative to assume the prostate gland as the source of the cancer, given the negative biopsy results. The immediate cause of death was considered metastatic small cell undifferentiated carcinoma.
- Claimed conditions
- carcinoid tumor, malignant brain tumors, metastatic small cell undifferentiated cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 27, 2009
- Citation
- 0927867
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 0927867.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for hypertension and headaches. The remaining claims of service connection for an eye disability, a head disability, and TDIU prior to February 22, 2016 are remanded.,Service connection is granted for hypertension due to herbicide exposure. Service connection is also granted for headaches as they were aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected hypertension. The remaining claims of service connection and TDIU are being remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate medical opinion and missing treatment records. The Veteran's gastrointestinal disorders, including gastroparesis, carcinoid tumor, colitis, and chronic gastritis, need to be evaluated by a VA physician.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, a carcinoid tumor, was not service-connected and the Board found no evidence to support a connection between the cancer and his military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal to reopen his claim for service connection for a carcinoid tumor, status post left thoracotomy (previously claimed as a respiratory condition and lung condition).
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