The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death due to a lack of evidence showing that his pancreatic cancer was caused by exposure to ionizing radiation during military service.
The deciding factor: The Defense Threat Reduction Agency concluded that the Veteran, who served on a naval ship in Japan, did not have sufficient exposure to ionizing radiation from atomic bomb detonations to cause his later-developed pancreatic cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- metastic pancreatic cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- August 28, 2009
- Citation
- 0932594
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 0932594.
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: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to his fatal pancreatic cancer, which is linked to his presumed exposure to Agent Orange during active duty.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, metastic pancreatic cancer, was not service-connected as it did not develop during or due to his military service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for cause of death due to metastic pancreatic cancer and aspiration pneumonia, finding that these conditions were not related to active service or herbicide exposure.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death from pancreatic cancer was caused by his in-service exposure to Agent Orange, and thus service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is granted.
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